CHINA has completed sea trials of a offshore patrol ship on order for the Nigerian Navy that will assist in suppressing the growing threat of piracy off West African shores, reports IHS-Janes Defence Weekly.
The vessel is the first of two acquired by the Nigerian Navy to bolster its maritime surveillance, patrolling, search-and-rescue and to counter piracy.
The patrol ship was launched by state-owned shipbuilder China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC) in January 2014, and was taken for sea trials by affiliated shipyard Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry.
The second patrol ship is being built by CSOC in China but will be outfitted at the naval shipyard in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in a technology transfer arrangement.
According to specifications provided by CSOC, the ship has a full load displacement of 1,800 tonnes and can go 21 knots. The vessel can accommodate 75 crew, has 20 days endurance, and a standard range of 3,000 nautical miles.
A computer-generated image issued by the Nigerian Navysuggests that the ship will have a helicopter hangar and landing deck. The weapons fit comprises a single 76mm NG-16-1 gun with a TR47 fire-control radar, as well as pairs of 30mm and 20mm guns.
The vessel's delivery date has yet to be confirmed, although Nigerian Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Dele Ezeobam told reporters in January 2014 that the F 91 would be handed over mid-2014.
Commented Janes: "The Nigerian Navy is standing up to a host of challenges it faces in the Gulf of Guinea. Prior to 2009 before it commissioned the Sea Eagle-class patrol boats, the navy struggled to counter the often heavily armed pirates of West Africa. The two patrol ships is the latest in a string of measures to wrest back control of its seas from criminal groups.
SHIPBUILDING
06 November 2014 - 05:36
China builds pirate-fighting Nigerian Navy warship to patrol Gulf of Guinea
CHINA has completed sea trials of a offshore patrol ship on order for the Nigerian Navy that will assist in suppressing the growing threat of piracy off West African shores, reports IHS-Janes Defence Weekly.
SHIPBUILDING
06 November 2014 - 05:36
China builds pirate-fighting Nigerian Navy warship to patrol Gulf of Guinea
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