French shipbuilder Piriou Group has completed the delivery of the third and final OPV 58 S offshore patrol vessel. The handover ceremony took place in Concarneau, France, graced by the presence of His Excellency the Ambassador of Senegal to France, El Hadji Magatte Seye, and Admiral Abdou Sene, the Chief of Staff of the Senegalese Navy.
This event marks the culmination of a construction program that began with a contract signed in November 2019 between the Ministry of the Armed Forces of Senegal and the Piriou Group. The contract, which came into effect on September 30, 2020, entailed the acquisition of three 62-meter offshore patrol vessels, tailored for Senegal’s Maritime Defense and State Action at Sea.
The first vessel, WALO, was delivered in June 2023 and arrived in Dakar in August of the same year. It was followed by the NIANI, delivered in November 2023, reaching Dakar in January 2024. Now, the CAYOR, bears the Senegalese flag, signifies the successful conclusion of a four-year construction program that engaged hundreds of employees and amounted to over 600,000 working hours.
Vincent Faujour, President of Piriou, expressed gratitude to the Senegalese Navy for its trust and highlighted the OPV 58S program as a collaborative effort between Piriou’s teams and the Senegalese Navy. Following the successful construction of the OPV 87 for Argentina, Piriou implemented a similar industrial approach for the OPV 58 S, splitting the hull production between its Concarneau shipyard and the Lorient shipyard, where Kership, a joint venture with Naval Group, operates.
“We were committed to being worthy of the trust that Senegal had placed in us, committed to building ships with remarkable deterrence and projection capabilities. We have designed and built new-generation patrol vessels that will further strengthen the Senegalese Navy’s defence posture and enable the Navy To cover the full range of State actions at sea missions it is responsible.
“And, pointing out that human values are at the heart of the maritime world, he honored the memory of the 5 Senegalese commandos who tragically lost their lives on mission:”We also wanted to be worthy of the trust placed in us by the Senegalese nation and its seafarers, who work, sometimes risking their lives, for the security and sovereignty of their country.”
Piriou’s President also paid tribute to the commitment of the teams from Piriou and Kership, the industrial contractor for the project, as well as those of all its partners, including Naval Group, who have all worked to ensure that this program runs as efficiently as possible.
Éric Langlois, President of Kership, and Olivier de la Bourdonnaye, Naval Group’s Executive Vice President for Surface Ships, both acknowledged the significance of the program and the cooperative efforts that led to its success.
The CAYOR will soon join its sister ships, the WALO and NIANI, in enhancing the operational capabilities of the Senegalese Navy. These state-of-the-art vessels have already demonstrated their effectiveness in various operations, including rescue missions, combating illicit trafficking, and environmental protection efforts at sea.
Vincent Faujour reaffirmed Piriou’s commitment to supporting the operational readiness of the OPVs, emphasizing that the delivery of the CAYOR is not the end but a continuing chapter in the Franco-Senegalese naval partnership.
The OPV 58 S vessels are versatile, robust, and enduring, designed for a wide range of missions from surveillance and identification to intervention, equipped with advanced capabilities including commando boats for projection operations.
The OPV 58 S (Offshore Patrol Vessel) is a remarkably multi-purpose 62-metre patrol vessel. robust and long-lasting, it is dedicated to surveillance, identification, and intervention missions, perfectly suited to the variety of missions related to law enforcement. In addition to its projection capabilities (commando boats), it has a first-rate deterrence capability thanks to its anti-surface and anti-aircraft weapons systems.
These OPVs are equipped with MARTE MK2/N anti-ship missiles offering over 30 kilometers range of strike and a fire-and-forget capability that will enable the Senegalese Navy to enforce its superiority. Immediate protection for the patrol vessels is provided by the SIMBAD-RC system, which can deploy two MISTRAL missiles, providing effective defence capability against anti-ship missiles, combat aircraft, UAVs, helicopters, and fast craft such as FIACs. All these missiles are produced by MBDA.