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Cape Town shipbuilder gets order for new Navy patrol vessels

9th March 2018

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Local shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT), part of the global Netherlands-based Damen Group, announced at the end of February that it had received an order to build three inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) for the South African Navy (SAN). The order was placed by South African defence acquisitions, disposals and research and development agency Armscor.

“We are very happy to receive this order and are looking forward to this continuation of our long-standing relationship with the SAN,” affirmed DSCT chairperson Sam Montsi. Each IPV will have a length of 62 m and a beam of 11 m. The order forms part of the SAN’s Project Biro to acquire new offshore and inshore patrol vessels. The order was placed exactly four years after the shipyard received a previous order for the SAN, for two tugs, under project Canter.

The three IPVs will employ Damen’s patented Sea Axe hull design and will be the first vessels of this type to operate in South Africa. The design is so called because it features a straight-edged, axe-shaped bow. The company describes the Sea Axe as “revolutionary” and providing “exceptional seakeeping behaviour . . . for improved safety and comfort on board and significantly reduced fuel consumption and emissions”.

“At DCST, we are not only about shipbuilding and repair, but also about providing people with the opportunities they need to reach their potential – whether they work for us or one of our many local suppliers – and supporting the country’s economy,” he stated. “DSCT is about the development of an entire shipbuilding [industry] and related industries.”

The company is committed to the South African government’s Operation Phakisa to develop the country’s maritime industry. Consequently, it will source as many as possible of the inputs (components and services) for construction of the IPVs from local suppliers. The company will also actively participate in the country’s Defence Industrial Participation and National Industrial Participation programmes. These will contribute to government’s broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) programme. DSCT itself is a Level 3 BBBEE company.

Currently, the SAN has three small IPVs, each displacing only 36 t. These are now between 19 and 23 years old. The new IPVs will be much larger, probably displacing between 300 t and 500 t. The new vessels are reported to be those designated Stan Patrol 6211 by Damen. This design has a speed of up to 26.5 knots and a range of up to 4 000 nautical miles (nm), and a steel hull and an aluminium superstructure.

Project Biro also includes the acquisition of three offshore patrol vessels (OPVs). These would replace the current Warrior-class vessels, originally built as large missile boats (known in the SAN as strike craft), of which three were converted into OPVs, although they are rather small for the OPV role, each having a displacement of 450 t, full load. DSCT is the preferred bidder for the new OPVs, which have not yet been ordered.

South Africa has a coastline of about 3 924 km, including Prince Edward Island and Marion Island, which form a little group lying some 1 000 km south-east of Port Elizabeth.
All along this coast, and around the two islands, South Africa has territorial waters that extend 12 nm out to sea, contiguous zones that extend 24 nm out to sea, and exclusive economic zones that reach 200 nm out to sea.

In all, the country has greater or lesser authority over around 1 553 000 km2 of ocean. In addition, the country is in the process of claiming between 300 000 km2 and 1 400 000 km2 as part of its extended continental shelf claim under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The new IPVs and planned OPVs are intended to help patrol these waters. The new IPVs might also be able to serve in the mine countermeasures role when required, using containerised equipment.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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