Fincantieri
has been awarded the contract with the Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG)
for the supply of four Italian Navy “Minerva” class corvettes
to be upgraded and converted into Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), and
to provide the related logistics support services. These units, which
will be decommissioned by the Italian Navy and replaced by the new vessels
covered by the fleet renewal program, have been remised by the Italian
Navy through a reselling contract executed by the Central Unit for Naval
Armament and Fincantieri. The last lowering of the flag of the first
couple of vessels "Minerva" and "Sibilla" was held
last 14 May in Augusta. Present at the ceremony the Chief of Staff of
the Italian Navy, Admiral De Giorgi. On 29 June the two units arrived
at Fincantieri’s dock in Genova, where the upgrading and conversion
activities started and will completed at the naval shipyard in LaSpezia.
After that the units will be handed over by Fincantieri to the Coast
Guard of Bangladesh. |
The contract
was signed by Paolo Frino, Vice President After Sales Business Unit
of Fincantieri and Mohammed Majedul Haque, Head of Planning and Sales
of the BCG during a ceremony attended by Mario Palma, Ambassador of
Italy to Bangladesh, Mozammel Haque Khan, Senior Secretary of the Ministry
of Home Affairs (from which the BCG depends), Massimo De Benedictis,
Fincantieri’s Regional Commercial Manager and Rear Admiral Mohammad
Makbul Hossain, Director General of the BCG.
At the end of the upgrading and conversion works, which will take place
in Italy and will last about 2 years, the vessels "Minerva",
"Sibilla", "Urania", and "Danaide", whose
lifespan will be extended by more than twenty years, will form the backbone
of the Bangladesh Coast Guard fleet.
The vessels will be used to patrol the country's maritime boundaries
and traffic in its Exclusive Economic Zone, with capabilities to contain
environmental pollution and to rescue and assist civilians in the case
of humanitarian emergencies.
Within its business development in the Far East, this agreement is particularly
important for Fincantieri in the market segment of after-sales services
for naval vessels, because it allows to provide a full range of services
for both the platform and the combat system: from industrial “Maintenance,
Repair, Overhaul and Conversions” services to “Life Cycle
Management” of vessels through logistic services, to “Integrated
Logistic Support”, usually developed during construction or conversion,
to “In Service Support” maintenance, which are services
developed after the delivery, during the exercise programs of the vessels.
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The “Minerva” class vessels, decommissioned by the Italian
Navy, will be upgraded and converted