TSAMTO, April 1. Spanish shipbuilding company Grup Aresa Internacional is preparing to deliver to the Nigerian Navy the first (out of four ordered) coastal patrol boat Aresa-1700.
By information Defenceweb.co.za, last week, the company said that the first two Fighter-2 class patrol boats acquired by the Nigerian Navy (Fighter II) are almost ready for launching. The above photos showed the boats P494 and P495 in a high degree of readiness.
17-meter boat Aresa-1700 (class "Fighter-2") is made of aluminum. The boat is 4 m wide and has a displacement of 7.6 tons. It is equipped with two MTU engines of 1250 hp each. The maximum speed exceeds 45 knots. The RHIB inflatable dinghy can be placed in the aft part of the boat.
The company does not disclose information on the Nigerian contract, but it is known that the budget of Nigeria for 2021 provides for the allocation of 151.343 million naira (about $ 400 thousand) for the continued purchase of four 17-m coastal patrol boats (Aresa boats).
Nigeria has previously ordered boats from Grup Aresa International: in 2013, the state-owned Nigerian company Global West Vessels Specialist Limited received four Aresa-1800 CPV multi-purpose boats with a length of 17 meters. Global West acquired the boats on behalf of the Maritime Safety Agency (NIMASA). In 2013, Aresa also announced that it had delivered four Aresa-1300 RIB patrol boats to a Nigerian state-owned enterprise (possibly also Global West).
The Spanish company also supplied a number of boats to the armed forces and security structures of African states, including the maritime police of Senegal (15 Aresa-1200 patrol boats in the 1990s), Cameroon (17 boats in the 2010s), the Angolan Maritime Police and the Nigerian Navy.
As reported by TSAMTO, the purchase of Aresa-1700 boats for the Nigerian Navy produced by Grup Aresa International became known in January 2021 after the completion of the construction phase of the hulls.
