Nigerian OPV completes trials

Chinese-built OPV to boost regional security.

China completes sea trials for Nigerian OPV

China has completed sea trials of a 95 m offshore patrol vessel (OPV) on order for the Nigerian Navy (NN), a Chinese state-run media outlet reported on 29 October.

The vessel, with pennant number F 91, is the first of two P-18N OPVs acquired by the NN in March 2012 to bolster its maritime surveillance, patrolling, search-and-rescue (SAR), and counter-piracy capabilities.

F 91 was launched by state-owned shipbuilder China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC) in January 2014, and was taken for sea trials by affiliated shipyard Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry. The second OPV, F 92, is being built by CSOC in China but will be outfitted at the naval shipyard in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in a technology transfer arrangement.

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Source: janes.com