The Angolan Navy has taken delivery of the first of three Ocean Eagle trimaran patrol boats from French shipbuilder CMN (Construction Mecanique de Normandie).
CMN handed over the vessel on Saturday, November 19, in a ceremony that took place in Toulon.
The 43.6 meters long and 15.2 meters wide trimaran-type patrol boat is designed by Nigel Irens Design, and made of composite materials at iXblue shipyard in La Ciotat instead of CMN facility in Cherbourg, because the latter no longer works on these types of materials.
The first three units of the Ocean Eagle type vessel was assembled in La Ciotat, and refitted with armaments at the Cotentin facility before being supplied in 2016 to Mozambique.
The Ocean Eagle trimaran ocean patrol vessel is intended to meet maritime surveillance needs of government organisations and research agencies.
The Angolan Navy which is tasked with protecting Angola’s 1,600 km long coastline will use the Ocean Eagle 43 vessel for search and rescue, sea policing, surveillance of exclusive economic and fishing zones, patrol, state action and safety at sea, protection of vulnerable vessels and offshore installations, as well as escort, anti-piracy, and marine environment monitoring.
The vessel can also be deployed to fight against trafficking, smuggling and illegal immigration, and to counter speedboats, asymmetric threats, and the boarding of terrorists.
The patrol boat has a top speed of 30 knots and a range of 3,000 miles at 20 knots. It is crewed by seven personnel and can accommodate another eight people.
The Ocean Eagle 43 patrol boat can be armed with either a 20 or 30 mm cannon above the bridge and two 12.7 mm machine guns at the stern.
Angola already operates patrol boats from CMN, including HSI 32 high-speed patrol craft.
Angolan Navy bought the high-speed patrol boat under a September 2016 €495 million deal with UAE-based shipbuilder Privinvest which saw the company establishing a shipyard in Angola as well as supply several naval vessels including three HSI 32 patrol craft, a Vigilante-400 long range offshore patrol vessel and a Vigilante-400 short range patrol vessel from France. The HSI 32 boats were delivered in 2019.
Mozambique is also another user of CMN vessel which operates three Ocean Eagle 43 trimaran patrol boats, three HSI 32 interceptors, and 18 fishing vessels from Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie (CMN) acquired in a 200 million euro deal over two years.
Insurgents sunk a French-made HSI32 High-Speed Interceptor boat during the fight for Mocímboa da Praia in August.
