The first of two Ivorian Navy OPV 45 offshore patrol vessel (Esperance) ordered from Israeli Shipyards is undergoing sea trials ahead of its delivery in June.
Ivory Coast ordered two Israeli-built OPV 45 offshore patrol vessels from Israeli Shipyards.
The two vessels were purchased by the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara through a clandestine deal with Israel at an undisclosed price.
In June 2020, Israeli Shipyards announced that it has delivered two 45 meters OPV 45 patrol vessels to an unnamed customer in Africa.
The deal includes ongoing support and training as well as the creation of a maintenance programme within the framework of the company’s Integration Logistic Support (ILS) services.
OPV 45 patrol vessels is 45.7 metres long, has a beam of 8.6 metres and displacement of 300 tons. Maximum speed is about 24 knots and range more than 3 500 nautical miles at 12 knots. It can accommodate between 16 and 21 crew, and has additional berth for up to 24 personnel.
The vessel can carry a 7.2 metre rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) in an automated launch-and-recovery system on the aft deck, which can also take 20 foot containerised modules for different missions.
It can be armed with a variety of weapons such as a stabilised naval gun systems of up to 30 mm on the foredeck and 12.7 mm machineguns elsewhere on the vessel.