The Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri has started work on a new series of offshore patrol vessels for the navy. Delivery is scheduled for 2027.
These are not the first patrol vessels to be built by the state-controlled shipyard company, but the new series is intended to better meet current requirements. The total value of the order amounts to almost €1.2 billion.
The ceremony for the first steel cutting for the first of four “new generation” offshore patrol vessels (OPV) that Fincantieri will build for the Italian Navy took place at the shipyard in Riva Trigoso near Genoa.
Among those present at the launch event were the General Director of Fincantieri’s Military Vessels Division, Dario Deste, the Director of the Naval Armaments Directorate (Navarm), Admiral Chief Inspector Giuseppe Abbamonte, and the Managing Director of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, Giovanni Sorrentino.
Fincantieri cooperates in joint venture Orizzonte Sistemi Navali
The program provides for the construction of four ships, the first of which is to be delivered in 2027. An option for two further newbuilds has also been agreed. The total value of the first four ships ordered by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, a joint venture between Fincantieri (51%) and Leonardo (49%), amounts to almost €1.2bn, including logistical support services, according to official figures.
“The OPV program is a response to the need to ensure adequate presence and surveillance capabilities, maritime traffic monitoring, control of commercial traffic, protection of communication lines and the exclusive economic zone, as well as protection against marine pollution threats, such as toxic liquid spills,” according to the parties involved.
With a length of approx. 95 metres, a displacement of approx. 2,400 tons and a capacity for 93 crew members on board, the new patrol vessels are reportedly “characterised by a concentration of technological solutions as well as excellent standards in terms of automation and manoeuvrability”, which should make them suitable for use in a variety of tactical scenarios and weather conditions.
Among the innovations is the integrated naval cockpit, developed for the Navy’s multi-purpose combat vessels and the result of a collaboration between Fincantieri NexTech and Leonardo. This workstation is designed to enable the control of engines, rudders and platform systems as well as some functions of the combat system by just two operators, the pilot and the co-pilot.
For Fincantieri, the OPV program represents “an important milestone” that should help to strengthen the company’s position “as a world leader in the field of naval defence through the FCX product family”.
