Shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) delivered the second Multi-Mission Inshore Patrol Vessels (MMIPVs, Warrior-class inshore patrol vessel) on 14 October, four years after it was awarded the Project Biro contract. Project BIRO allowed DSCT to further develop this base. The Multi-Mission Inshore Patrol Vessels will be delivered to the SAN in 2023 ‘after extensive acceptance trials’, and the final MMIPV will follow in 2024. The MMIPVs are intended to replace the Warrior-class OPVs between 2022 and 2024. DSCT’s largest project to date is for three Multi-Mission Inshore Patrol Vessels (MMIPVs) procured by ARMSCOR for the South African Navy (SAN). The vessels will augment South Africa’s maritime security by enhancing the country’s capability to respond effectively, rapidly and cost-effectively to threats such as illegal trafficking and fishing.
Since the start of the project, all set milestones have been accomplished: the first vessel has been handed over. Damen will deliver the remaining vessels on time, on budget and with the highest international standards and quality. Furthermore, DSCT is delighted to have incorporated local suppliers and personnel for the building of the vessels. In addition to generating positive results, the MMIPV project has led to a 50% increase in employment at the yard and a 75% increase in vendor opportunities in the last three years. DSCT’s lengthy track record in shipbuilding has resulted in a solid local supply chain base. Government programmes such as Local Content, Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) Defence Industrial Participation (DIP) and National Industrial Participation (NIP) provided leverage for a further focus on the inclusion of the local industry.
In this process, DSCT committed itself to subjects recognized as being of crucial importance to South Africa, such as the inclusion of empowered companies, Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs), Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) and Military Veterans (MV). Embracing these subjects has resulted for instance in the inclusion of well over a hundred EMEs and QSEs into Project BIRO. DSCT recognizes the need for genuine transformation within the business landscape. DSCT’s B-BBEE Level 1 accreditation in the Defence Sector Charter is a testament to DSCT being a part of the change in South Africa and we remain fully committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture necessary to ensure a strong and sustainable future.
Each MMPIV is 62m long with a beam of 11m, based on the Damen Sea Axe design. The Damen Group, designs and manufactures a wide variety of vessels, including a range of related patrol vessels known generally as the Damen Stan Patrol vessels. The Damen Stan Patrol designs’ names include a four-digit code, where the first two digits are the vessel’s length, in metres, and the second two digits are its width.[1] Over a dozen nations have classes of vessels based on the Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel design, which are 42 metres (138 ft) long and 7 metres (23 ft) wide. The United States Coast Guard’s Sentinel class cutters, based on the Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel design, are 47 metres (154 ft) long and 8 metres (26 ft) wide.