Jane's Information group reported that on July 19, 2023, the first ND15 4 de Abril medium amphibious ship built for the Angolan Navy, built by the French shipbuilding group CMN (Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie) Group in Cherbourg, was delivered to the Angolan capital Luanda from France on board the Dutch dock transport vessel Yacht Express. CMN LCT 200-70. Finally, the ship will probably be commissioned into the Angolan navy in 2024.
The lead ship built for the Angolan Navy by the French shipbuilding group CMN in Cherbourg according to the CMN LCT 200-70 project is the medium landing ship ND15 4 de Abril on trials, 05/15/2023 (c) CMN
Construction of the first of two CMN medium amphibious assault ships ordered by Angola to the CMN LCT 200-70 project was started at CMN's parent company in Cherbourg in January 2022, launching was carried out on February 26, 2023, and factory sea trials were started in May 2023. On June 22, the ship was sent from France aboard the Yacht Express to Angola. The ship was named in honor of the Angolan national holiday on April 4 - the Day of Peace and National Reconciliation (Dia da Paz e da Reconciliação Nacional), on the date of the signing of the peace agreement between the Angolan Government and the opposition group UNITA on April 4, 2002, which put an end to the long-standing civil war in the country.
The second ship is also being built in Cherbourg, was launched in March 2023 and is due to be delivered to Angola in 2024.
The ships are being built according to the original new CMN LCT 200-70 project developed by CMN. They have a steel hull and superstructures and an aluminum mast, and are equipped with aft and forward landing ramps. The length of the ship is 70 m, the width is 10.6 m. The ships are capable of carrying up to 200 tons of cargo, or up to 260 landing troops, or three main tanks, or eight heavy, or 30 light vehicles. It is possible to transport 12 standard 20-foot containers. The power plant is a two-shaft diesel, the speed is up to 16 knots in full load, the cruising range is up to 2,200 miles, the crew is 18 people.
These two amphibious ships are being built under a large contract from September 2016, concluded by the Privinvest Holding group controlling CMN Group, for the construction of 20 different ships and boats for Angola, with a total cost of 495 million euros. Earlier, under this contract in 2016, CMN built and in 2019 handed over to the Angolan Navy three 32-meter high-speed patrol boats of the HSI32 project, and in 2021-2022 - three patrol trimarans of the Ocean Eagle 43 project. In addition, it was reported that under this contract, CMN in Cherbourg should build two patrol ships for the Angolan Navy - the 79-meter 1400-ton Vigilante 1400 project (CL 79) and the small 52-meter 400-ton Vigilante 400 project (CL 52). There is no information about their surrender yet. Also, within the framework of this contract, Privinvest Holding is to create a shipbuilding and ship repair shipyard in Angola together with the Angolan state company Simportex.
Privinvest Holding is now nominally registered in the UAE and is controlled by the family of a businessman of Lebanese Maronite origin Iskander Safa living in France. CMN Group has been owned by Privinvest since 1992.
In February 2023, Angola also signed a contract worth 1 billion euros with the Emirati state defense industrial group EDGE Group for the construction of the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a part of the group, in Abu Dhabi for the Angolan Navy of small corvettes of the BR71 Mk II project. This project was developed by the CMN group and is a development of its BR71 project, according to which six 71-meter Baynunah-type small missile corvettes were built for the UAE Navy by CMN and ADSB under a contract dated January 2004.
The lead built for the Angolan Navy by the French shipbuilding group CMN according to the CMN LCT 200-70 project is the medium landing ship ND15 4 de Abril in Cherbourg, 04/25/2023 (c) www.meretmarine.com
