Maritime Security Vessel News Roundup | August 11 – Patrol vessels for Bulgaria, Canada and Guyana plus US Navy submarine construction
EMERGENCY SERVICES WEEK
Construction is nearly completed on a new patrol vessel for the Guyana Defence Force’s maritime arm while work continues on a future US Navy submarine and the lead ship of a new class of locally-built corvettes for the Bulgarian Navy. The Canadian government meanwhile selects a local firm to build and deliver four new fisheries enforcement vessels optimised for operations in the Atlantic.
US builder floats out Guyana Defence Force patrol vessel
US boatbuilder Metal Shark Boats has floated out a future patrol vessel to be operated by the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Coast Guard component.
Named after a river in Guyana, the future GDFS Berbice will be the ninth Metal Shark vessel to join the current active GDF Coast Guard fleet.
The vessel will have a length of 115 feet ( metres), space for 24 crewmembers, storage and launch/recovery facilities for a small rigid inflatable boat (RIB), and mounts for automatic weapons. Missions will include maritime law enforcement patrols, maritime border patrols, customs enforcement, counter-narcotics operations, fisheries protection, disaster relief, and search and rescue (SAR).
Future Bulgarian Navy corvette hits the water
Bulgarian shipyard MTG Dolphin has launched the first vessel in a new class of corvettes ordered by the Bulgarian Navy.
The corvettes are being built with the cooperation of Germany’s the NVL Group. Each ship in the class will have a steel hull, a diesel propulsion system, and technologies that will help reduce radar, visual, and infrared signatures.
Delivery is scheduled for the end of 2025.
Virginia shipyard lays keel of US Navy submarine Oklahoma
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia has laid the keel of the future USS Oklahoma, the US Navy’s 29th Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN).
As with its sisters, the future Oklahoma will be used for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, strike warfare, surveillance, mine warfare, and insertion and extraction of special operations forces. Armament will include torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
SSN-802 will be the second US Navy vessel and the first submarine to be named for the US state of Oklahoma.
Canadian government taps Nova Scotia builder for future fisheries patrol vessels
The Canadian government, through Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has awarded Nova Scotia-based Samson Enterprises a contract for the construction of four new 13.4-metre fisheries patrol vessels for use along Canada’s Atlantic coast.
The vessels’ duties will include enforcement operations, fishing gear retrieval, and monitoring of whales and other species of concern.
The length and size of the vessels were chosen for ensuring additional stability and the capability to haul retrieved fishing gear. The extra length provides three metres more storage space than on earlier vessels, allowing for the storage of a greater quantity of seized gear as well as enhanced stability for hauling gear in adverse weather.
Two of the patrol vessels are scheduled for delivery in the autumn of 2023 in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The remaining two vessels are scheduled to be delivered the following spring.
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