UK-based engineering consultancy BMT and Turkey’s ARES Shipyard have received a new order from the Qatari Coast Guard which includes an additional nine vessels.
The order was officially signed during Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) last week.
The new order covers three 48-meter ARES 150 HERCULES offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and six 24-meter ARES 80 SAT special operations support and fast attack craft, all of which are expected to be delivered by the end of 2020.
“Our partnership with ARES goes from strength to strength and we’re very much looking forward to working with the team to deliver these vessels,” John Bonafoux , Managing Director at BMT commented.
“We’ve signed this new contract even while the previous contract is in force and deliveries are in progress,” Kerim Kalafatoğlu, Chairman and Executive Director at ARES Shipyard, said.
Back in 2014, BMT and ARES won an order to build seventeen patrol boats from advanced composites for Qatari Coast Guard. The order comprised ships of three different sizes — five of 24 meters, ten of 34 meters and two of 48 meters.
The first batch of composite hull patrol boats was received by the coast guard in 2016.
In February this year, ARES completed sea trials for the first of two 48-meter patrol boats.