The Kership
class
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Common uses not otherwise categorized
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is a range of steel
monohull
right
A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another.
Fundamental concept
Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unstab ...
offshore 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 th ...
s (OPVs) built by Kership, a joint venture of
French civil shipbuilder Piriou (55%) and
Naval shipbuilder DCNS (45%).
History
The ships were originally part of the but after a rearrangement of products DCNS decided to remove the OPV from the Gowind class and develop the OPVs as a class of their own with top of the range. To do so it formed the Kership joint venture with the Piriou shipyard in
Concarneau
Concarneau (, meaning "Bay of Cornouaille") is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in Northwestern France. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie ...
,
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
in May 2013 to build and market lightly armed and armoured OPVs for customs, fishing and other home security missions. DCNS said this would enable it to concentrate on "developing relations" with clients seeking, heavily armed and armoured warships while Kership handles the more civilian-standard OPVs.
Vessels
Argentina (was France)
On 9 May 2010,
DCNS started the building of one self-funded 1,410t Gowind patrol corvette called ''L'Adroit'' and announced that the craft will be made available to the French Navy between 2012 and 2015. The vessel is designed for patrol and sovereignty enforcement in littoral and exclusive economic zone waters and offers three weeks' endurance and a range of . Missions include special forces deployment by launching within 5 minutes and recovering two
UFAST UFR 9.30 rigid-hulled inflatable boat
A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull (watercraft), hull bottom joined to side-forming a ...
s from a stern ramp. It was sold to Argentina in 2018 and commissioned as
ARA ''Bouchard''.
Gabon
On 29 October 2014,
Ernest Mphouho Epigat, defence minister for the
Gabonese Republic signed a contract with Piriou to supply two offshore patrol vessels to the
Gabonese Navy
The National Navy of Gabon () is the naval branch of the Armed Forces of Gabon. It operates a few fast attack craft and patrol vessels to maintain security along its -long coastline.
Overview
Created on 16 December 1960, the Gabonese Navy is ta ...
. One was to be of the Kership design. The unnamed vessel was called OPV50 by Piriou.
Specifications
* Length overall 58.20 m
* Beam 9.50 m
* Draught 2.70 m
* Speed 21 kn
* Range 5,000 NM at 12 kn
* Hull / superstructure steel / aluminium
* Accommodation capacity 36 pers.
– crew 28 pers.
– special personnel 8 pers.
* Weaponry
– 1 x 20 mm gun on the fore-deck
– 2 x 12.7 mm machine guns
References
{{Reflist
Patrol vessels of Gabon
Patrol ship classes