The Brazilian Navy has formally welcomed its newest stealth warship into service while newbuild vessels have been delivered to the US Coast Guard and a UK/Irish rescue organisation. A future Canadian Coast Guard patrol ship has been launched. Lastly, construction will soon begin on five new frigates for the Royal Norwegian Navy.
Metal Shark Boats of Jeanerette, Louisiana, has delivered its response boat small (RBS) III demonstrator to the US Coast Guard, completing development and delivery within months of the awarding of the contract.
As the designer and builder of the US Coast Guard's current RBS fleet, Metal Shark was one of four companies selected by the coast guard in January 2026 to provide prototype platforms under the service's RBS III demonstration program.
The vessel is now undergoing evaluation and testing by the coast guard in Charleston, South Carolina.
Canada's Irving Shipbuilding has launched the first of two Arctic and offshore patrol ships (AOPS) being built for the Canadian Coast Guard.
As her designation implies, the future CCGS Donjek Glacier is designed to be capable of patrols in Arctic and offshore waters within Canada's exclusive economic zone. The hull is therefore being built in compliance with IACS Polar Class 5, giving the ship limited icebreaking capability.
Six AOPS were also built by Irving for the Royal Canadian Navy, where they are known as the Harry DeWolf-class.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has placed a new rescue boat into service at its Fenit station on the coast of County Kerry in Ireland.
Roy Barker VII will replace the station’s all-weather boat Robert Hywell Jones Williams, which has served Fenit for over 25 years.
Roy Barker VII was designed and built entirely in-house by the RNLI at its UK facilities. The boat has self-righting ability and was built for a cost of £2.7 million (US$3.7 million).
BAE Systems in the UK will begin construction of five new Type 26 frigates for the Royal Norwegian Navy before completing the eight ships from the same class slated for the UK Royal Navy.
The Norwegian Type 26s will be built in fulfilment of a £10 billion (US$13 billion) order placed in August 2025.
Some slots at BAE Systems' facilities on the River Clyde in Scotland have been allocated for the Norwegian frigates while the first five Type 26 ships for the UK are at various stages of construction at the same facilities.
The Brazilian Navy commissioned its newest stealth frigate into service during a ceremony on Friday, April 24.
Tamandaré is the lead ship of a new class of frigates being built by Águas Azuis, a consortium formed by German defence shipbuilder TKMS via subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Estaleiro Brasil Sul, Embraer Defense and Security, and Atech.
Although built in Brazil to comply with Brazilian Government requirements for major defence programs, the Tamandaré-class ships are based on the MEKO A-100 frigate originally developed by Germany, making the Brazilian Navy the second export customer of the sub-type (the MEKO A-100 also served as the basis for the Polish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel ORP Ślązak).
