Nigerian Navy Receives French-made Offshore Survey Vessel

The Nigerian Navy officially received an Offshore Survey Vessel (OSV), named the OSV 115, from the French shipyard OCEA SA in Apapa, Lagos, on April 17.

This development was initially reported by Military Africa.

In October 2021, French shipyards OCEA announced that they had won an international tender to deliver a new 35-meter hydrographic research vessel to the Nigerian Navy. The OSV 115, designed and constructed by OCEA SA, is a 35-meter vessel tailored for scientific hydrographic and oceanographic missions.

Commodore Augustine Adams-Aliu, the Director of Information at Naval Headquarters, highlighted the vessel’s features, which include medium/shallow water multi-beam echo-sounders and other essential survey equipment. The OSV 115 is poised to undertake comprehensive surveys in shallow and medium waters, aligning with the Navy’s mission to safeguard Nigeria's territorial waters.

The OSV 115 now joins the Nigerian Navy’s fleet alongside the OSV 190 ‘NNS LANA‘, another OCEA-built vessel delivered in 2021. The primary role of the new vessel is to conduct hydrographic and oceanographic surveys, in line with the Nigerian Navy’s ongoing efforts to secure the nation’s waters and support the government’s Blue Economy initiatives.

The Nigerian Navy’s commitment to enhancing its hydrographic charting capabilities commenced with the local production of internationally recognized nautical charts in 2019.