In December 2019, following a call for tenders, the French Maritime Affairs placed an order to OCEA for its new offshore patrol vessel, the "GYPTIS", which will be based in Marseille. The vessel, type OCEA OPV 150, specifically designed for sustainable and responsible navigation, has just been launched by the OCEA shipyard and is now starting a phase of sea trials before its delivery scheduled for the beginning of the year.
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link
OCEA OPV 150 "Gyptis" (Picture source: OCEA)
The Mediterranean patrol vessel, 46 meters long and 8.5 meters wide, is a ship dedicated to State action at sea. This new unit has two semi-rigid boats implemented by davit and can accommodate a drone aircraft to intervene at sea and carry out control, surveillance, identification and interception missions.
In particular, the ship will be able to carry out the following missions:
- Fisheries and marine environment police
- Surveillance missions of the Exclusive Economic Zone
- Search and rescue missions
- Surveillance and control of ships at sea
- Sovereignty
- Diving operations
- Pollution control
- Protection of natural resources and the blue economy
The semi-rigid boats and davits, fitted with anti-tilting systems, will allow the ship to deploy and recover control teams quickly and safely.
With excellent seakeeping behavior, benefiting from a significant noise reduction on board and having optimized interior spaces, the ship will provide real comfort at sea for the French Maritime Affairs crews.
The French Maritime Affairs have decided to engage firmly with the OCEA shipyard with the approach of preserving the marine environment for this vessel.
- Energy optimization: main groups and engines compliant with IMO Tier III regulations, hybrid propulsion allowing reduced speeds to operate only on electric motors, solar panels, LED lighting
- Control of discharges: air conditioning unit without CFC gas, treatment of grey waters and household waste, catalytic converters to filter exhaust gases
- A virtuous hull and equipment: OCEA-designed aluminum hull and superstructure to reduce the ship's consumption and therefore CO2 and NOx emissions, 100% recyclable aluminum material, REPCET device for real-time tracking of cetaceans in order to limit the risk of collision.
Coupled with an optimized hull and a diesel-electric propulsion mode, the OCEA vessel will consume approximately 50% less than a steel patrol boat of the same size.
