The National Navy of Gabon () is the naval branch of the Armed Forces of Gabon. It operates a few fast attack craft and

patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

s to maintain security along its -long coastline.

Overview

Created on 16 December 1960, the Gabonese Navy is tasked with controlling the coastal waters of

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

(-long coast). In 1983, the Navy became independent from the Gabon Army. Its headquarters is in

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

and its two naval bases are in

Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta. Nearby Cape Lopez is Gabon's weste ...

and Mayunba. Gabon has a coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. The principal port of the nation is in Libreville and Gabon claims a territorial sea limit and a

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

(EEZ). However, jurisdiction over the EEZ is in flux as the limits have not been defined, overlapping with

Annobón Annobón (; ) is a province of Equatorial Guinea. The province consists of the island of Annobón and its associated islets in the Gulf of Guinea. Annobón is the smallest province of Equatorial Guinea in both area and population. According t ...

which belongs to Equatorial Guinea and

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

. A Marines unit, the (COFUSMA), was created in 1984.

List of ships of the Gabon Navy

The Gabon Navy primarily utilises fast attack craft and

s to monitor its coastal waters. * , a * , a P400-class patrol vessel * ''Bivigou Nziengui'', transferred from France to the Gabonese Navy in 2014 (former

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

P-400 class vessel ''La Tapageuse'') * , a fast attack craft that entered service in 1978. * , a

BATRAL The Bâtiment de Transport Léger (abbreviated BATRAL; "Light ferry ship") are small landing ships of the French Navy. Also known as ''Champlain'' class by the lead ship, they have been used for regional transport and patrol needs in French Over ...

landing ship that entered service on November 26, 1984 and was decommissioned in 2016. Also, two French-built Kership offshore patrol vessels are on order.

References

{{Navies in Africa