NIGERIAN NAVY RECEIVE THREE NEW 24 METRE OCEA(FRANCE) FPB 72 MK.II COASTAL PATROL CRAFT

OCEA-built 24m Coastal Patrol Craft of the Nigerian Navy in France

P175, an OCEA 24 metre patrol craft constructed for the Nigerian Navy

P176,another OCEA 24 metre patrol craft constructed for the Nigerian Navy

Rear view of the OCEA patrol craft

According to a LIGNESDEDEFENSE(France) report monitored by Beegeagle, all three units of 24 metre OCEA FPB 72 Mk.II coastal patrol craft for which orders were placed by the Nigerian Navy, were delivered to the Nigerians late in September 2011. The little ships are numbered P175, P176 and P177.

The FY 2012 defence budget made provisions for the acquisitios of the following naval platforms and air assets

– six 17m Manta Mk.II ASD Littoral Interceptors

– three Shaldag Fast Patrol Craft

– three OCEA FPB 72 Mk.II patrol craft

– two stealth 95 metre 1,800 ton Offshore Patrol Vessels, for which a US$155m contract was signed in April 2012. These are almost certainly Type 056 light missile corvette/OPVs

– the refurbishment by TP Marine(Holland) of six patrol craft of unknown origin

– four naval helicopters

It has been a very good year for the Nigerian Navy which, through third party interventions by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(NIMASA) which runs a quasi Coast Guard known as the Maritime Guard Command in conjunction with the Navy, and through the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), are also expected to take delivery of the following assets

via NIMASA

– twenty units of armoured patrol boats each valued at US$2m

– three Offshore Support Vessels for monitoring the loading operations at offshore petroleum facilities

via NPA

– two 17 metre KND patrol interceptors

– one 32 metre OCEA FPB 98 Mk.II coastal patrol craft

At the beginning of the year, the Nigerian Navy commissioned into service a used 115 metre 3,250 ton warship, NNS Thunder F90. This was followed up in June 2012 with the launch of a first-ever Made-in-Nigeria 31 metre patrol craft, NNS Andoni P100, which was constructed by Nigerian naval engineers and architects at the Naval Dockyard in Lagos, Nigeria.