OCEA floats out new French aluminum OPV

The new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) has been launched by the OCEA shipyard and is now starting a phase of sea trials before its delivery scheduled for the beginning of the next year.

The OCEA OPV 150 type aluminum vessel was built for the  French Maritime Affairs. In December 2019, following a call for tenders, the authority placed an order for its new OPV which will be based in Marseille.

The unit named Gyptis is 46 meters long and 8.5 meters wide. It is equipped with two semi-rigid boats implemented by davit and can accommodate a drone aircraft to intervene at sea and carry out control, surveillance, identification and interception missions.

In particular, the ship will be able to carry out missions such as fisheries and marine environment police, surveillance missions of the Exclusive Economic Zone, search and rescue missions, surveillance and control of ships at sea, sovereignty, diving operations, pollution control and protection of natural resources and the blue economy.

The semi-rigid boats and davits, fitted with anti-tilting systems, will allow the ship to deploy and recover control teams quickly and safely.

A ship with a low environmental footprint

The French Maritime Affairs have decided to engage with the OCEA shipyard with the approach of preserving the marine environment for this vessel. The new OPV will feature:

• Energy optimization: main groups and engines are compliant with IMO Tier III regulations, hybrid propulsion allowing reduced speeds to operate only on electric motors, solar panels, LED lighting;
• Control of discharges: air conditioning unit is without CFC gas, treatment of grey waters and household waste, catalytic converters to filter exhaust gases;
• A virtuous hull and equipment: OCEA-designed aluminum hull and superstructure is anticipated to reduce the ship’s consumption and therefore CO2 and NOx emissions, 100% recyclable aluminum material, REPCET device for real-time tracking of cetaceans in order to limit the risk of collision.

Coupled with an optimized hull and a diesel-electric propulsion mode, the OCEA vessel will consume approximately 50% less than a steel patrol boat of the same size, according to the company.

In 2019, the OCEA shipyard launched “ the world’s largest aluminium OPV” for the Philippine Coast Guard.