LIBREVILLE, Gabon - Gabon has ordered two patrol vessels from French shipbuilder Piriou at the Euronaval 2014 exhibition. The contract was signed by Pascal Piriou, the chairman and CEO of Piriou, and Gabon's defense minister Ernest Mpouho Epigat on October 29 in Paris.
One of the patrol vessels to be supplied by Piriou will be built new while the other will be the second hand French Navy P400 patrol vessel Tapageuse, which is being overhauled and refitted.
The new offshore patrol vessel, a 58 meter long OPV50, will be built through the Piriou-DCNS joint venture Kership partnership and delivered in mid-2016. Kership will be the primary contractor and Chantiers Piriou, a subsidiary of the Priou Group based in Concarneau, France, will build the vessel. The OPV50 has a 360 degree view bridge, a ramp for two small boats (such as 7 meter RHIBs) and a range of 5,000 nautical miles.
The P400 class has an endurance of 15 days at sea and is fitted with a 2.5 ton crane that can lift boats out of the water.
Armament includes a 40 mm Bofors gun, a 20 mm F2 cannon and two AA-52 machineguns.
In December 2013 Tapageuse was acquired by Piriou Naval Services, which began refurbishing it with the view to marketing it to interested countries. Earlier this year it was reported that the Philippines was interested in acquiring the vessel for its Coast Guard. It will be delivered in mid-2015.
Meanwhile, also this week, Gabon's military had purchased 12 Aravis armored vehicles from French company Nexter, which will be used to support Gabon's battalion with the United Nations mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
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