Angola To Receive Seven Patrol Vessels From Brazil

Angola will acquire seven patrol vessels to be produced by the Brazilian Navy’s Empresa Gerencial de Projetos Navais (Emgepron), according to the Brazilian Ministry of Defense.

Brazil and Angola’s defense ministers, Celso Amorim and Joao Manuel Lourenco signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will enable Brazil’s Navy to assist Angola to implement its Maritime Power Development Program (Pronaval) on September 5.

It is anticipated that four vessels will be produced by EMGEPRON in Rio de Janeiro 3. The other patrol vessels will be built in a new Angolan shipyard to be built 200 km south of Luanda, the capital, with technical advice, materials and equipment supplied by Brazil. Moreover, the Brazilian Navy will provide education and training of Angolan personnel both to build and to operate the vessels that will be built in the new shipyard.

The seven patrol ships will displace about 500 tons each, and their technical configuration will be finalized during the negotiation phase for the manufacturing and service provision contracts. According to Minister Manuel João Lourenço, the signing of the MoU is the first step to "increase the shipyard infrastructure and naval power of Angola’s Navy." 

For Lourenço, reinforcing Angolan coast patrols will allow the country to fight threats that, according to the director, "are part of the contemporary world": maritime piracy and terrorism. "We will do everything so that implementation of this cooperation will not take long."

Apart from the purchase of seven patrol vessels and advising on the construction of the shipyard, the MoU provides for cooperation in the academic field and the training of personnel to build and operate vessels, as well as to qualify sailors of the merchant marine.