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Visitors to Incheon Port look at the Dokdo LPH, Asia's largest amphibious landing and transport vessel, on Sunday.
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A separate area for female soldiers, a community kitchen which can accommodate 154 soldiers at once, medical facilities equivalent to a hospital complex including a dental hospital and an operating room, a barbershop, elevators and a canteen: all these facilities can be found in the 14,000-ton Dokdo LPH, Asia's largest amphibious landing and transport vessel, on an area the size of two soccer fields.
The Dokdo LPH, which was unveiled to the press on Friday, has facilities not far behind those of a large U.S. aircraft carrier. Intended to accommodate 340 crew, 700 Navy personnel, seven helicopters, six tanks and 10 trucks, it can serve as both a leading ship guiding Aegis Ships and other fleets and in rescue operations in large-scale disasters such as a tsunami since it is capable of carrying 1,100 refugees.
The area for female soldiers is off-limits to men and is intended to accommodate about 20 commissioned and non-commissioned officers at the end of December. Currently, there are some female soldiers serving in various destroyers and supporting ships, but the Dokdo LPH is the largest with an area specifically designed for them. Bunks accommodating 28 women, dressing tables, washing machines, shower stalls and women-only toilets are available. Female soldiers will share only the communal kitchen with male soldiers. Access to the area is restricted by a double gate with an electronic lock.
With about 700 rooms, the ship is 199 m long and as tall as a 17-story building. It has seven elevators including a freight elevator capable of loading up to a 19-ton aircraft or freight and a small elevator for crew. It is equipped with a tractor to move helicopters or aircrafts, facilities for landing and a forklift to carry ammunition and freight. In the kitchen, there are nine iron pots to make boiled rice for 250 people within an hour, a large sterilizer, a large dishwasher and an ice and ice cream maker. In a corner of the kitchen, there are four electronic game consoles. A gym, a 24-hour-run laundry room and a sterilizer for clothes are installed too. As for medical facilities, there are 13 areas including an emergency operating room, a radiation therapy room, a dental hospital, a pharmacy and isolation ward.
About 10 military surgeons and medical officers will work on the Dokdo LPH. There are also detoxification facilities in case of chemical, biological and radiation attacks, a military jail and a chapel of rest. "One of the Dokdo LPH's advantages is that it can accomplish missions in spite of bad weather like high surfs," said Col. Chung Ahn-ho, the captain.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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