PT PAL Indonesia (Persero)
Submarines, amphibious ships, frigates, merchant vessels and general engineering
PT PAL Indonesia is the country's principal shipbuilder and the naval platform member of Defend ID, the state defence holding led by PT Len Industri. The yard at Ujung in Surabaya grew out of a Dutch colonial marine establishment and was reorganised as a state company in 1980. It has since become the only Indonesian builder able to take a submarine or a large amphibious ship from steel to sea trials, and it exports, which few yards in the region manage. Under Defend ID it sits alongside Pindad, Dirgantara Indonesia and Dahana, putting naval platforms, land systems, aircraft and explosives under one state holding.
Warship work dominates. PT PAL assembled and now builds Nagapasa-class submarines derived from the Type 209/1400, and in August 2026 it cut first steel on Indonesia's Scorpene Evolved boats with Naval Group. Its Makassar-class landing platform docks led to export orders, most visibly the Tarlac-class ships for the Philippine Navy, the third of which launched in 2026, and a 163 metre landing platform dock for the United Arab Emirates. The surface programme runs from Martadinata-class guided missile frigates through Sampari-class fast missile boats of the KCR-60M type to patrol craft between 14 and 57 metres, and the yard has also delivered the Sudirohusodo-class hospital ship. More recently it showed a KSOT autonomous submarine prototype and prototypes of an indigenous combat management system and counter-drone equipment, moving the company from hull builder towards systems owner. Design authority on most of these hulls still rests with foreign partners, and the pitch to buyers is the transfer of build and through-life work to Surabaya rather than an original Indonesian design.
Merchant vessels keep the commercial side alive. The yard offers tankers between 3,500 and 30,000 long tons deadweight, freighters and bulk carriers up to 50,000 deadweight tonnes, passenger ferries carrying up to 500 people, and long-line tuna fishing boats. A 28 metre PAL motor yacht covers the leisure vessels category.
General engineering rounds out the group. PT PAL builds barge mounted power plants, steel structures and machinery, and it produced equipment for the Indonesian tsunami early warning system, work that draws on the same welding, fabrication and outfitting shops as the ships. Steel structures and machinery for industrial customers fill the gaps in the yard's loading.
Maintenance and repair is a business in its own right rather than an afterthought. The yard docks and overhauls Indonesian Navy ships and takes foreign work as well, including a Philippine Navy landing platform dock that returned to Surabaya for maintenance in 2025. That through-life relationship with export customers matters more to the order book than any single hull, because it keeps the yard in the loop long after delivery and gives buyers in Southeast Asia a regional alternative to European and Korean support chains.
- Submarine assembly, construction and overhaul
- Amphibious and landing platform dock design and build
- Frigate and corvette construction
- Fast attack craft and patrol vessel production
- Merchant and passenger vessel construction
- Ship repair, docking and life extension
- Combat and mission system integration
- Autonomous underwater platform development
- Heavy steel fabrication and machinery manufacture
- Barge mounted power plant engineering
- Naval export programme management
Diesel electric boats of the Type 209/1400 family assembled and built at Surabaya for the Indonesian Navy.
Next generation submarines for Indonesia, with first steel cut at PT PAL in August 2026 under the Naval Group agreement.
Uncrewed autonomous underwater vessel prototype unveiled for the Indonesian Navy in 2025.
Amphibious transport docks built for the Indonesian Navy and adapted for export customers.
Export amphibious ships built for the Philippine Navy, with the third of class launched in 2026.
Large amphibious ship under construction for the navy of the United Arab Emirates.
Guided missile frigates built at Surabaya under the Indonesian Navy surface combatant programme.
Sixty metre missile armed fast attack craft for the Indonesian Navy.
Purpose built medical and humanitarian ship derived from the amphibious hull line.
Patrol boats from 14 to 38 metres and fast patrol ships up to 57 metres.
Indigenous naval combat management system shown alongside counter-drone prototypes in 2025.
Merchant tankers from 3,500 to 30,000 long tons deadweight.
Cargo ship designs ranging from 3,500 to 50,000 deadweight tonnes.
Passenger vessels and ferries carrying up to 500 people.
Long-line tuna fishing boats built for the Indonesian fleet.
Twenty-eight metre leisure vessel offered from the Surabaya yard.
Floating power generation units built and outfitted as general engineering work.
Equipment supplied for the Indonesian tsunami early warning system.
Docking, overhaul and life extension for Indonesian Navy ships and foreign customers including the Philippine Navy.
Heavy steel structures, machinery and industrial components produced in the Surabaya shops.
Programs & Platforms
Surabaya, Indonesia
Ownership
State-owned