Kership, the joint venture formed by French naval shipbuilders Piriou and the Naval Group, began construction of a new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) at its Lorient facilities on Thursday, April 24.
The OPV will be the first of two that Kership will build for the Montenegrin Navy. Both vessels are scheduled to be delivered by 2026.
The OPVs will perform a range of missions including border control, counter-piracy patrols, special operations support, humanitarian assistance, search and rescue, and pollution response.
Each vessel will have a steel hull, an aluminium superstructure, an LOA of 62.95 metres, a beam of 9.5 metres, a draught of 2.7 metres, a displacement of 550 tonnes, and space for 24 crewmembers and up to 16 additional personnel. Two diesel engines driving fixed-pitch propellers will deliver a top speed of 21 knots and a range of 9,700 nautical miles.
The OPV's armament will consist of a 40mm main gun and two 12.7mm machine guns fitted on remotely operated mounts. Space will also be available for two rigid inflatable boats as well as stern launch and recovery ramps.