Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co.,
Bremen, will be the prime contractor, as it was with the first two
units of the class, responsible for
the integration of systems onboard
the third unit. Construction on the
new vessel will begin this year,
with launching in 2010. The hull
will be floated to Kroeger Werft for
installation of the superstructure
and final outfitting. Unit three will
be commissioned in 2013.
Bahrain Orders
New Landing Craft
Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding of the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) has
been awarded a $100 million construction contract to build two 42-
meter steel landing craft and two 16-
meter composite landing craft for the
Bahraini Amiri Navy. All four landing craft will be delivered by 2011.
The craft will replace the Bahraini
Amiri Navy’s aging 1466-class land-
ing craft utility (LCU) acquired from
the United States in 1991, and its
Loadmaster II-class LCU commissioned in 1981.
The 42-meter landing craft is a
derivative of the UAE’s 64-meter
landing craft currently in operation
with the UAE Navy. The 42-meter
LCUs for the Bahraini Amiri Navy
are multimission craft capable of
supporting amphibious operations
or mine-laying and logistics missions. The craft also are capable of
transporting fuel, water and combat vehicles, and can accommodate
up to 40 troops.
The 16-meter Sea Keeper 715
landing craft are made of composite
materials. They will be built at Abu
Dhabi Shipbuilding’s Mussafeh
shipyard in its new state-of-the-art
composite workshop. This composite facility opened in 2006 and
is capable of building composite
hulls up to 50 meters in length.
Morocco Orders
Four New OPVs
The Royal Moroccan Navy has
ordered four new 70-meter offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) from
Raidco Marine of France. The total
price of the program is estimated at
around $140 million.
Designed by Constructions
Mecaniques de Normandie, the
OPV 70 design is being built at
Aker Yards in Lorient, France.
Aker will deliver the vessels to
Raidco Marine for completion
before further transfer to the
Moroccan Navy.
The first unit will be transferred
to Raidco in the third quarter of
2010 and delivered in 2011. All
four units are likely to enter service
by 2013. ■
AMI International Inc., Bremerton, Wash.,
is an international consulting and naval
intelligence services company.
