20 April 2016

MMEA Patrol Boats Fulfil Destini

20 April 2016


Destini's New Generation Patrol Craft (photo : Shephard)

Malaysian shipbuilder Destini have showcased a scale model of the New Generation Patrol Craft (NGPC) it is constructing for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). 

These are the biggest patrol boats Destini Shipbuilding & Engineering has built to date, with six 44.25m vessels ordered under a RM381 million (US$93.3 million) contract awarded in 2015. 

The first NGPC is due for delivery this December, according to Asraf Ali A.M. Mohamed Sultan, Destini’s director of procurement & business development. It is on track to be launched in early November, after its keel was laid on 18 November 2015.

The 297t vessel is based on a Fassmer design, although the length was stretched from the original’s 35m dimensions. Successive boats will be delivered from Destini’s Port Kang shipyard to the MMEA every four months until 2018.

Of interest, the patrol boats will carry Thales Fulmar UAVs. The scale model showed a UAV catapult launcher mounted forward of the bridge, while a net would be erected behind it to recover the UAVs. The Fulmar’s operators will work inside the bridge.

This year Thales will provide local training and support to the MMEA to ensure ‘effective knowledge transfer for operational and maintenance needs throughout the system’s life cycle’, according to a press release about the Fulmar.

The patrol boats are armed with an Aselsan SMASH 30mm cannon and feature a Kelvin Hughes radar. The NGPC have 25 crewmen, with the MMEA adopting a minimal complement. A single RHIB is carried on the stern for boarding operations and the like.

The twin MTU 4000-series engines producing 1,920kW offer a 24kt top speed. The boats will be used for ‘search and rescue, fire-fighting, fishery protection, law enforcement, disaster relief, training, pollution control and EEZ duties’, according to Destini. They thus carry equipment to help contain oil spills.

The Destini spokesman said the company has already achieved a number of exports for its other platforms. It has already delivered 24 patrol boats measuring 20m to the Indian government, for example.

Additionally, it has delivered two 18m harbour patrol boats to the Bangladesh Coast Guard, and has transferred technology so that the country can build two more.

(Shephard)

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