Damen Shipyards Group has entered a partnership with US shipbuilder Metal Shark for the construction of up to 13 Damen SPa 2606 patrol boats.
The US Navy recently selected Louisiana-based Metal Shark to build Near Coastal Patrol Vessels (NCPVs) for United States partner nations through the Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program.
Under the terms of the contract Metal Shark will build up to 13, 85-foot Defiant-class welded aluminum cutters for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and other United States partner nations.
Additionally, Metal Shark will supply electro-optical infrared sensors, diagnostic equipment, in-country reactivation, crew familiarisation and test support to NCPV operators.
The new vessels are based on Damen’s Stan Patrol 2606 Foreign Military Sale (FMS) design, which will be tailored to suit the requirements of the NCPV mission. The cutter can carry out a wide range of mission profiles including search-and-rescue, border patrol, police and customs duties, counter-narcotics operations and securing waters of economic importance.
Design attributes of patrol boat
Key attributes of Damen’s Stan Patrol 2606 include excellent performance, large payload capacity, economical operating cost and proven durability. Metal Shark has applied its own enhancements to the patrol platform to provide the crew-friendly functionality found on other Metal Shark patrol craft.
The NCPV fleet will be built at Metal Shark’s Franklin, Louisiana waterfront shipyard. Established in 1986, Gravois Aluminum Boats LLC, and its government/commercial boat entity Metal Shark Boats are suppliers of custom boats for defense, law enforcement, and commercial entities. Under the direction of its owner/operator Allard and Gravois families, Metal Shark has produced more than 500 vessels in the past three years. Metal Shark produces a wide range of custom mono-hull and catamaran vessels up to 250’.
