BMT, Ares to Build Seventeen Patrol Boats for Qatar Coastguard

BMT Nigel Gee (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group, will, together with Ares Shipyard (Ares), design and build seventeen patrol boats from advanced composites for the Qatar Coastguard.

This order comprises three different vessel sizes: five of 23 metres capable of speed in excess of 37 knots, 10 of 33 metres capable of achieving 30 knots and two of 46 metres also capable of 30 knots.

BMT will be responsible for the Naval Architecture, including hull development, and class level design & engineering work on all three sizes of vessel. BMT’s team of naval architects and engineers has worked closely with Ares to develop the designs for the vessels which meet the customer’s stringent performance and comfort requirements.

Kerim Kalafatoglu, Managing Director of Ares Shipyard explains: “Developing a vessel that far exceeds the customer’s expectations in both looks and, performance, could only be made possible through the effective partnership between BMT and Ares. A challenging project such as this, delivery 17 vessels in total, means that having a reliable and experienced partner such at BMT Nigel Gee is all the more important.”

Commenting on the project John Bonafoux, BMT Nigel Gee’s Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Ares and for the opportunity to extend and reinforce our expertise in high speed patrol boats. We have worked with Ares on a wide variety of projects and given the demand in the market for such specialist types of vessels, we look forward to developing this relationship further.”

The project will last a period of 5 years with the first vessel on sea trials early in 2016.