According to the Nigerian Navy, in Abuja on November 3, 2021, the Chief of Staff (Commander) The Nigerian Navy Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo signed a contract with the Turkish shipbuilding company Dearsan Shipyard Limited for the construction of two patrol ships for the Nigerian Navy. The ships must be delivered within 37 months from the date of signing the contract (that is, by December 2024).
Chief of Staff (Commander) Nigerian Navy Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo at the signing ceremony of a contract with the Turkish shipbuilding company Dearsan Shipyard Limited for the construction of two patrol ships of the OPV 76 project for the Nigerian Navy. Abuja, 03.11.2021 (c) Nigerian Navy
Judging by the photos from the signing ceremony, the contract was signed for the construction of two 76-meter patrol ships of Dearsan Shipyard's own OPV 76 project, which became the first known order of ships of this type.
According to Dearsan Shipyard, the ship of the OPV 76 project has a total displacement of 1200 tons, the maximum length is 76.6 m, width is 11 m, draft is 2.9 m. The power plant is a two-shaft diesel, includes four MAN 18VP185 diesel engines (manufactured by MAN UK - actually the former British company Paxman) with a maximum capacity of 5,500 hp. The maximum speed is 28 knots, the cruising range is 3,000 miles. The crew is 43 people.
The ship model of the OPV 76 project, presented at the signing ceremony, demonstrates armament from one tank of the new Leonardo OTO Marlin 40 40-mm artillery installation, an aft remotely controlled artillery installation (presumably 25 or 30 mm caliber) and two machine-gun installations. The ship has a landing pad for a medium helicopter.
For Dearsan Shipyard, the signing of a contract with Nigeria for two patrol ships of the OPV 76 project was a new breakthrough in the international defense market, after a long successful cooperation in the construction of ships and boats for Turkmenistan, including the recently commissioned Turkmen Navy corvette Deniz Han project C92.
Image of the patrol ship of the OPV 76 project (a variant with enhanced armament, including a 76-mm Leonardo Super Rapid artillery installation) developed by the Turkish shipbuilding company Dearsan Shipyard (c) Dearsan Shipyard
