The Senegalese Navy has ordered two RPB 33 patrol boats from Raidco Marine, one of the French company’s executives revealed. Both patrol boats are currently being built at the UFAST Shipyard, a partner of Raidco that manufactured Senegal’s first RPB 33, which was delivered in 2013.
The contract for the new vessels was signed in 2018, but Senegal was not initially identified as the customer, the executive said. Delivery of the first ship is planned for late this year with the second handed over in 2020
The RPB 33 has a fibreglass hull with a length of 33.95 m. Its maximum speed is 30 kt and it has a range of 1,500 n miles (2,770 km) at 15 kt. It carries a single rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) in a stern ramp and can be armed with a 20 mm gun.
Aside from Senegal, Ivory Coast is the other main user of the RPB 33 with a total of three in service. Togo fields two of the steel-hulled variant known as the PHM 33. The new boats will be used in securing it’s maritime domain.