French shipbuilder Ocea has delivered an FPB 98 Mk I fast patrol boat to Gabon, the first of 15 new vessels the country is acquiring to modernise its navy. The 32-metre boat was named Paul Bivigou Nziengui at a ceremony in Libreville on 15 August 2026, presided over by President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, according to the Presidency of the Gabonese Republic and Mer et Marine.
The Presidency described the new patrol boat as a major step in the modernisation of Gabon’s naval forces and in strengthening the country’s maritime sovereignty. “This new patrol boat will strengthen the monitoring of territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as well as the capacities for rapid intervention and security of coastal approaches,” it said.
Delivery came only three months after the contracts were signed in May 2026. The partnership also includes a maintenance contract and a transfer of skills to strengthen local technical know-how. The value of the programme has not been disclosed.
The FPB 98 Mk I
According to Ocea, the FPB 98 is 32 metres long, has a crew of 14 to 16 and a top speed of 25 to 35 knots depending on configuration, with a range of 1,200 to 1,700 nautical miles at 12 knots. Mer et Marine gives a beam of six metres and notes that the aluminium-hulled design can accommodate up to 26 people. Armament can include a 30 mm cannon on the bow, and a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) can be launched from the stern for boarding and interception. Images published in Gabonese media show the new boat fitted with machine guns on the bow and flybridge.
Ocea has delivered around 70 FPB 98s since 2008, according to Mer et Marine, and has sold the type around the world, including to Algeria, Benin, Suriname and Nigeria, as well as Ukraine. The Nigerian Navy is one of the yard’s most regular African customers: Military Africa has reported on two patrol boats delivered in 2020, an order for nine boats in 2023 and the delivery of an offshore survey vessel in 2024.
Fourteen more vessels to follow
Gabon’s Presidency said the naming of the Paul Bivigou Nziengui paves the way for additional vessels for Gabon’s navy, which will soon receive a second 32-metre patrol boat, an 84-metre offshore patrol vessel and twelve 9-metre intervention boats. “Through this programme, the Head of State reaffirms his determination to build a modern, reactive and fully sovereign Navy, in the service of the protection of the national territory and the maritime interests of Gabon,” the Presidency said.
According to Mer et Marine, the offshore patrol vessel will very likely be Ocea’s OPV 270 design, given its 84-metre length, although this has not been officially confirmed. One of these, the BRP Gabriela Silang, was built for the Philippine Coast Guard and delivered in December 2019. The class can reach more than 20 knots and has a range of about 8,000 nautical miles. It is crewed by 30 but has accommodation for 70, can carry 9-metre RHIBs, and has a helicopter deck and hangar for a five-tonne helicopter.
An ageing fleet
Gabon’s Navy is small. Its fleet includes two 54-metre P400-class offshore patrol vessels delivered by Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) in 1988 and 1990, a Patra-class missile boat and a 42-metre Esterel-type fast attack craft built in 1978, as well as a few smaller types. In 2010, Gabon received four Raidco RPB20 patrol boats from France. The navy is headquartered in Libreville, with bases at Port-Gentil and Mayumba.
The modernisation follows wider re-equipment of Gabon’s armed forces under President Oligui Nguema, who came to power in August 2023. Military Africa has reported on the arrival of the Gabonese Air Force’s Airbus C-295 transport aircraft and the army’s new Russian Spartak armoured personnel carriers and Chinese WMA-301 fire support vehicles.
Securing Gabon’s waters in the Gulf of Guinea
The new boats are intended to tackle illegal fishing, trafficking and threats to offshore infrastructure in Gabon’s EEZ, which lies within the wider Gulf of Guinea. The risks became clear in January 2026, when three armed men boarded the Gabonese-flagged trawler IB Fish 7 about seven nautical miles south-west of Ekwata and kidnapped nine crew members, prompting the government to create a joint rapid intervention brigade for maritime surveillance. With a second FPB 98, an offshore patrol vessel and a dozen intervention craft still to come, Gabon’s ability to patrol its own waters will depend on how quickly Ocea delivers the rest of the order and how well the promised maintenance and skills transfer take root in Libreville.