The South African Navy (SAN) has confirmed that South African defence procurement (and disposals and research and development) agency Armscor has been granted the authority to start the acquisition process for three new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and three new inshore patrol vessels (IPVs). This programme is codenamed Project Biro.

At the end February, IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly reported that the SAN had received permission to go ahead with the project, but the respected journal did not know how many vessels would be bought. “The Project Study Report for Project Biro was approved on February 14,” SAN spokesperson Captain Zamo Sithole recently informed Engineering News by email. “This provides the authority for Armscor to go out to industry on a request for offer (RFO) – open tender.”

“All attempts are being made to promulgate the RFO before the middle of the year,” he noted. “The intention is to build and support all vessels acquired by the project in South Africa.” It is widely expected that the RFO will attract considerable interest from a large number of companies from around the world.

OPVs are naval vessels optimised for seaworthiness and endurance rather than for speed and firepower. They uphold national sovereignty, monitor nautical activities in national waters and especially exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and help protect maritime resources. IPVs fulfill similar roles, but closer to the coast.

The OPVs will replace the current Warrior-class vessels, originally built as large missile boats (known in the SAN as strike craft), of which three have been converted into OPVs and a fourth is in the process of conversion. Each has a displacement of 450 t, full load. South Africa acquired nine of these vessels, with six being built in Durban. They were not all operated at the same time. The oldest of the four re-roled to being OPVs is now 36 years old and the youngest is 28 years old. They are expected to be able to continue operating for no more than five years. For reasons of seaworthiness and endurance, and to be able to effectively operate a helicopter, the new OPVs are expected to be much larger than the current vessels, displacing perhaps 2 000 t or even more.

Currently, the SAN has three small IPVs, each displacing only 36 t. These are now between 18 and 22 years old. Again, the new IPVs will be much larger, probably displacing between 300 t and 500 t. The new IPVs will also serve in the mine countermeasures role when required, using containerised equipment.

When Project Biro was first mooted some years ago, it was reported that consideration was being given to acquiring eight OPVs and there was no mention of IPVs. This, it is now clear, never became an official requirement. “In accordance with Project Biro’s approved milestone documentation, the project mandate has never been ‘reconstructed’: the requirement has always been three OPVs and three IPVs and this has not changed – the intention is still to acquire three OPVs and three IPVs under Project Biro,” explained Sithole.

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 EEZs 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 OPVs and IPVs will help patrol these extensive waters.