Commercial satellite imagery of Nampho Port indicates North Korea’s newest warship has likely left the construction hall and is positioned inside a floating drydock berthed at the newly refurbished quay.

38 North reported on this.

It has been less than a year since the first observable signs of construction were seen at Nampho, the west coast command headquarters for North Korea’s navy and the country’s largest commercial port.

In May 2024, construction began at one of the existing ship repair ways on what the construction hall for the new warship would become.

By the end of 2024, the hall was complete, blocking off any observation of the ship work by satellite.

Despite the addition of a mesh roof, satellite images have still provided insight into the size of the vessel — especially when roof segments are removed, likely to allow access for the gantry crane.

The structure is estimated to be approximately 15 meters wide. That is about one-third wider than the recent Amnok- and Nampo-class corvettes, which were the largest North Korean warships built since the Najin-class frigates of the 1970s.

In December 2024, a report by Korean Central Television on the 11th General Assembly of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea showed, for the first time, the appearance of the secret warship currently under construction at the Nampo shipyard.

A series of medium resolution images taken between March 23 and 26 revealed that the floating drydock was maneuvered to a position in front of the construction hall on March 24, aligned with the construction hall’s launch rails, where it remained for a few days.

On imagery from March 26, the drydock (this time with the vessel) was moved to the west end of the newly refurbished quay, and eventually to the east end where it remained on imagery from March 30.

The total length from the beginning of the netting to the ship’s stern, as measured on imagery from April 6, is 144 meters.

Its width and general formation indicate it will likely have a helipad and hangar, similar to other modern naval combatants.

It is likely that the next stages of construction, including the installation of weapons and various systems, will take place alongside the quay. However, in the case of North Korea, other scenarios cannot be ruled out. For example, the high-speed missile boat Nong-O, launched in 2018, still remains unfinished within the Nampo shipyard.

According to assessments by analyst H I Sutton, the vessel may be intended to carry vertical launch systems (VLS). He also noted openings beneath the command bridge that were typical for phased-array radar installations.

A gun is with a caliber of 57-100 mm. Thus, in 2021, a North Korean copy of the Italian naval gun Oto Melara Rapid with a caliber of 76 mm was demonstrated at the arms exhibition.

Soviet/Russian AK-230 or AK-360 guns, or their local copies, may be used.

As for surface-to-air missile systems, there is currently no information available. Previous North Korean-built ships lacked such systems, relying solely on artillery or man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) for air defense.

The main strike weapon is likely to be a Hwasal-2 type cruise missile, with a potential range of 2,000 km. This missile is already being installed in angled launchers on the Amnok-class corvette.

Vertical deployment should increase the number of missiles in the future carrier compared to the current inclined deployment.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the construction of the unidentified vessel in Nampo, North Korea is also building an identical one at the shipyard in the city of Chongjin. No updates on the construction phase of that vessel are currently available.