On June 2, 2023, an official ceremony was held at the enterprise of the French Piriou shipbuilding group in Concarneau (France) for the transfer of the lead small patrol ship Walo to the Senegalese Navy in a series of three units of the OPV58S project ordered by Senegal under the 2019 contract. The ship is due to arrive at Dakar in Senegal in July. All three ships are to become the largest patrol units of the Senegalese fleet.
Built by the French shipbuilding group Piriou for the Senegalese Navy, the lead small patrol ship Walo of the OPV58S project during the final stage of testing in Lorian, 05/19/2023 (c) Pradignac & Leo / www.meretmarine.com
Recall that in November 2019, the Piriou group signed a contract in Dakar with the Ministry of the Armed Forces of Senegal for the construction of three small patrol ships of the OPV58S project for the Senegalese Navy (sometimes referred to in the media as the OPV60S project, which is not confirmed by Piriou data). All three ships under the contract were supposed to be commissioned by mid-2023, but the start of their construction was somewhat delayed due to the covid pandemic and the corresponding blockages and quarantines in France in 2020.
It was planned that these ships would become the first units of the Senegalese Navy equipped with strike missile weapons, receiving four MBDA Marte Mk 2/N light anti-ship missiles. However, this missile system has not yet been installed on the lead ship Walo and it is unknown when these missiles will actually receive ships of this type.
The lead patrol ship Walo for Senegal was started construction at the shipyard in Concarneau on October 21, 2020, launched there on April 11, 2022 and put to sea for testing on January 26, 2023.
The second ship Niani was launched in Concarneau on September 13, 2022, and the third Cayor was launched on May 2, 2023.
The ships of the OPV58S project for Senegal have a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. The total displacement of the ship is 600 tons, the maximum length is 62.2 meters, the width is 9.5 meters, the draft is 3 meters. The power plant is a two-shaft diesel, the highest speed is 21 knots. The cruising range is 4,500 miles at 12 knots, the autonomy is 25 days. The crew is 24 people with the possibility of accommodating another 24 people.
The ship is equipped with a stern ramp for two semi-rigid motor boats. The basis of electronic weapons is the POLARIS ASBU manufactured by Naval Group. The ship's armament includes four MBDA Marte Mk 2/N anti-ship missiles (not yet installed), a two-shot launcher of the MBDA SIMBAD-RC short-range anti-aircraft missile system (with Mistral 3 missiles), a 76-mm Leonardo Super Rapid universal artillery system, two 20-mm remotely controlled Nexter Narwhal artillery systems, two 12.7- mm machine gun.
To date, the Senegalese Navy has three small patrol ships (55-58 meters long), one large 46-meter patrol boat, 10 patrol boats, 11 small boats, two 58-meter small landing craft, one landing boat and three small auxiliary vessels. Three new patrol ships of the OPV58S project are to replace three 26-meter patrol boats of the PR 48 project built in the 1970s (Saint-Louis, Podor and Popenguine) in the Senegalese fleet.
Built by the French shipbuilding group Piriou for the Senegalese Navy, the lead small patrol ship Walo of the OPV58S project during tests in Lorian, February-March 2023 (with) Pradignac & Leo / www.meretmarine.com
The ceremony of handing over to the Senegalese Navy the lead small patrol ship Walo of the OPV58S project built by the French shipbuilding group Piriou. Concarneau, 02.06.2023 (c) Senegal Navy
