The Nigerian Navy has awarded a contract to French shipbuilding firm Ocea SSM for the construction of 9 Vessels in different size categories.
The new vessels includes three 46 meters OPV 190, two 32m FPB 96, and four 15m Interceptors.
The new contract, which entered into force at the end of 2022, this time covers nine boats.
The Nigerian Navy plans to integrate these platforms into the Falcon eye Maritime Domain Awareness system.
Ocea SSM has a long history of successful business dealings with Nigeria. Since 2013, OCEA has delivered 18 vessels to the Nigerian Navy including patrol boats of several kinds.
In July 2022, the Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral A.Z Gambo inspected one of the two 32 meters FPB 98 Mk1 vessels under construction at Ocea shipyard in France. He was accompanied by Radm B.J Gbassa Chief of Administration, the Defence attaché, Capt YG Goshi among others.
These two vessels and the additional Offshore Survey Vessel (OSV 95) on order will bring the number of Ocea boats in NN inventory to a total of 21. These are; three FPB 98 MK1 (NNS Dorina), eight FPB 72 MKII, four FPB 110 MKII, a OSV 190 SC-WB (NNS Lana), a 35 meter OSV 95 and four C-FALCON Interceptors.
OCEA announced in October 2021 that it has won an international tender to deliver a new 35-meter hydrographic research vessel to the Nigerian Navy, confirming the sale as first reported by Military Africa earlier in June.
The new 35-meter OSB 115 SC-WB type vessel will complement NNS Lana in carrying out hydrographic duties in the Gulf of Guinea area and Nigeria’s Economic Exclusive Zone.
Ocea delivered an FPB110 class boat “NNS SOKOTO” (P193) and the C-Falcon 2 (P272) interceptor boat to Nigeria in November 2019.
In 2018, the Nigerian Navy commissioned sixteen patrol boats at the Naval Dockyard in Lagos, the patrol boats includes two FPB 110 MKII hulls – Nguru (P 187) and Ekulu (P 188) which were delivered in April, four smaller FPB 72 MKII hulls – Shiroro (P 185), Ose (P 186), Gongola (P 189), and Calabar (P 190).
All vessels were delivered between late 2017 and April 2018 by Ocea. At the time, two brand new 35 meters OCEA FPB 110 mk II fast patrol boats arrived the Nigerian shores. The patrol boats NNS Nguru (P187) and NNS Ekulu (P 188).
OCEA has previously delivered 7 units of the FPB 72 MK II boats in three batches: three in 2012, one FPB 98 in 2013, two in 2017 and two in January of this year.
The FPB 72 and FPB 98 were ordered by the Nigerian Port Authority but handed over to the Nigerian Navy.