Metal Shark has been awarded a contract by the Navy to build near coastal patrol vessels (NCPVs) for U.S. partner nations. The contract, awarded through the Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, is potentially worth up to $54 million.
Metal Shark will build up to 13 85' Defiant-class welded aluminum cutters for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and other U.S. partner nations. Additionally, Metal Shark will supply electro-optical infrared sensors, diagnostic equipment, in-country reactivation, crew familiarization, and test support to NCPV operators. The new vessels are based on Damen Shipyards’ Stan Patrol 2606 design, designed by Metal Shark to suit the requirements of the NCPV mission.
The cutter can accommodate 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. Key attributes of Damen’s Stan Patrol 2606 include excellent performance and seakeeping, large payload capacity, economical operating cost, and durability. Metal Shark has applied its own enhancements to Damen’s standardized patrol platform to provide the crew-friendly functionality found on other Metal Shark patrol craft.
“The NCPV award is the first result of a multiyear collaboration between Damen and Metal Shark,” Metal Shark CEO Chris Allard said in a statement. Damen designs are thoroughly proven in service across a range of markets, and their global service network has proven to be a very powerful selling feature, Allard added.
“Metal Shark has long impressed us with their ambitious growth and their considerable engineering resources,” said Jan van Hogerwou, Damen’s North American vice president of new construction. “Damen is proud to now become a part of the Metal Shark growth story as we work together to deliver this newest fleet of Stan Patrol vessels to military operators worldwide.”
The NCPV fleet will be built at Metal Shark’s Franklin, La., waterfront shipyard, which recently completed the on-time delivery of six 88', high-speed passenger vessels for New York’s new NYC Ferry Service, and also delivered the first six of 18 45’ patrol boats to the Vietnam coast guard.
