French shipbuilding firm Ocea has designed and sold a fast patrol boat it calls the Ocea FPB 72.[1][2][3][4][5] As of June 2018 it has delivered FPB 72 vessels to Suriname, Nigeria and the Philippines.
Design
The vessels are 24 metres (78 ft 9 in) long, have a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).[1][2][3][4] They can be armed with machine guns, or an autocannon.
Seven Ocea FPB 72 vessels were delivered to the Nigerian Navy. NNS Okpoku, NNS Bomadi, and NNS Badagry were delivered in 2013.[5] NNS Shiroro and NNS Ose were delivered in 2017.[1][2] NNS Gongola and NNS Calabar were delivered in 2018.[2]
Suriname Coast Guard
In November 2012 the defence and internal affairs Ministry of Suriname bought three patrol vessels from the French company Ocea for the Coast Guard. This order was worth 16 million euros. These patrol vessels will be used for fishery protection and to counterattack piracy in Surinamese waters. The first Fast Patrol Boat (P201), a Ocea FPB 98 type,[6] was delivered in June 2013. The first boat arrived in Paramaribo with a container vessel from the port of Saint-Nazaire, France. Delivery of the remaining two vessels (P101 & P102), FPB 72 types,[7] occurred by the end of July, 2013.
Philippine Coast Guard
On September 9, 2014, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) through the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the French Shipbuilder OCEA entered an agreement to supply the latter with four 24 m FPB-72 Patrol Boats and one 82 m (269 ft 0 in) OPV-270 Offshore Patrol Vessel provided by a loan granted by the French Government.[8]
The FPB-72 Patrol Boats is designated as Boracay-class patrol vessel in the Philippine Coast Guard Service.
The first of the four FPB-72, BRP Boracay arrived at the Alava Pier in Subic, Philippines on August 8, 2018 while the second boat, BRP Panglao arrived on September 3. Both Boracay and Panglao were commissioned together during the PCG anniversary celebration on October 17, 2018.[9]
BRP Malamawi, the third boat out of four, was launched in July 2018 and is expected to be delivered by November 2018. The fourth and last FPB-72 Patrol Boat for the Philippine Coast Guard, BRP Kalanggaman was launched August 13, 2018 and is expected to be delivered by January 2019.
References
- ^ a b c
"Nigeria receives two more Ocea patrol vessels". Defence Web00. 2017-09-06. Archived from the original on 2018-06-14.
Ocea has delivered a number of vessels to Nigeria, including three FPB 72s in 2012 and a 32 metre FPB 98 Mk II in 2013, which were ordered by the Nigerian Port Authority for use by the Nigerian Navy.
- ^ a b c d
"Ocea delivering patrol boats to Nigeria". Defence Web. 2018-01-18. Archived from the original on 2018-01-17.
The FPB 72s are 24 metres long and 5.8 metres wide. They can reach a speed of up to 35 knots and have a range of 600 miles at 12 knots. Crew is ten. They are equipped with a rigid-hulled inflatable boat on the aft deck.
- ^ a b
"OCEA launches the " PANGLAO ", second multi-role vessel for the Philippine Cost Guards". Ocea. June 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
Entirely designed and built by OCEA, this versatile and competitive 24 m type OCEA FPB 72 MKII is based on the model already operated by the Surinam Coast Guard (2 units) and Nigerian Navy (7 units) and adapted to meet the operational requirements of the Philippine Coast Guards.
- ^ a b
"September 2017: OCEA delivers "SHIRORO– P185" and "OSE - P186" (OCEA FPB 72 MKII) to the Nigerian Navy". Ocea. 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
SHIRORO – P185" and "OSE – P186", will join the three other 24-meter Fast Patrol Boats delivered in 2012 by OCEA: "OKPOKU – P175", "BOMADI – P176" and "BADAGRY – P177", as well as a 32-meter Fast Patrol Boat, type OCEA FPB 98 MKI, delivered in 2013: "DORINA – P101". The fleet will be completed by three additionel FPB72 MKII and two FPB110 MKII.
- ^ "June 2013: 1st delivery to Coast Guard of the Republic of the Suriname by OCEA: "P201" (OCEA FPB 98 MKI) | Ocea SSM".
- ^ "August 2013: 2nd delivery to Coast Guard of the Republic of the Suriname: "P101" and "P102" (OCEA FPB 72 MKII) | Ocea SSM".
- ^ "PH Coast Guard gets first delivery of French-built patrol boats". 9 August 2018.
- ^ "Philippines Coast Guard orders fast patrol boats, offshore patrol vessel from France". 16 January 2018.