Turkiye’s Dearsan Shipyard has launched the first of two offshore patrol vessels for the Nigerien Navy with a ceremony held in Istanbul on 26th of October, 2023.
Dearsan Shipyard signed a contract with the Nigerian Navy on November 3, 2021, in Abuja, for the construction of two 76-meter offshore patrol vessels, and with the necessary steps taken for the quick implementation of the project and the keel laying ceremony of the two 76-meter offshore patrol vessels, which took place on 16th September, 2022.
In addition to the Nigerian delegation led by Nigeria’s Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, the ceremony was attended by Mr. Gökhan Uçar, Vice President of the Turkish Defence Agency, Mr. Aziz Yıldırım, Chairman of the Dearsan, Mr. Murat Gordi, Dearsan’s Director General and several other local and foreign guests.
Dearsan is a leading and prestigious shipyard in Turkiye, which was founded in 1980 and has built more than 120 commercial and military vessels since its establishment.
In 2007, Dearsan was the first private shipyard to design and build Turkey’s first warship by winning the tender for 16 57-meter patrol vessels announced by the Turkish Defence Agency. Later, Dearsan became the first Turkish shipyard to export warships abroad by building the same ships for the Turkmen Navy at its shipyard in Turkmenistan.
Dearsan has built more than 40 ships in Turkmenistan, ranging from 15 to 92 meters in length. The 92-meter corvette delivered last year is the first and only corvette designed, built and delivered by a private shipyard in Turkey and can also be called a light frigate given its armament and sensor equipment.
The main tasks of the offshore patrol vessels being built for the Nigerian Navy are maritime interception, surface and air surveillance, naval gunfire support for ground forces, special operations, search and rescue, reconnaissance, escort in Nigerian territorial waters, and protection of maritime economic activities, including ports, platforms and artificial islands.
In addition to primary missions, secondary missions include asymmetric warfare, anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, anti-drug trafficking, and disaster response.
While the Offshore Patrol Vessel performs these tasks in peacetime, it is designed to be converted into an effective warship in wartime by equipping it with appropriate modular sensors and weapons.
The Offshore Patrol Vessels’ main features include an overall length of 76.9 meters, a beam of 11.9 meters, a draft of 3.6 meters, a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 2,500 nautical miles, and an endurance of 16 days. The ship is manned and operated by a total of 48 people. The main propulsion system is the CODAD configuration, consisting of 2 CPP propellers and 4 main diesel engines. The ship will be able to operate in sea state 5 and sail in sea state 6.
Its main armament against surface, air and surface targets consists of a 40 mm naval gun, 1 remotely operated 30 mm gun, 2 remotely operated 12.7 mm machine guns, and 2 manual 12.7 mm machine guns.
It will be equipped with a 2D reconnaissance and surveillance radar, a navigation radar, an electro-optical system, advanced communications systems and a CMS to successfully perform the tasks entrusted to it.
Credit: NavalNews
