The contract, which was first announced on the 15th of October by the Spanish Shipyard, was signed with Simportex, the Angolan state-owned entity responsible for Ministry of Defence procurement.
The Spanish company was also contracted owing to the fact that it had been responsible for building the two ships in need of repairs.
Both naval vessels, the Golfinho and Atlântico, were built at Navantia in the early 90s, when the company still went by Empresa Nacional Bazán.
“This order from the Angolan government marks another step forward in Navantia’s international defence market for its Repairs and Services business area, particularly in Africa, where commercial efforts are being made to support navies in modernizing their existing ships,” the company said.
“In addition, the contract includes training for several officers of the Angolan Navy in Spain, as well as two years of life-cycle support and knowledge transfer to the Navy to enable the maintenance of the vessels in Angola,” it added.
Angola had also been considering a larger naval deal with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, according to a February 2023 report by The Diplomat, as seen on DefenseWeb.
Beyond buying six additional patrol boats, the proposal involved refurbishing two of the four vessels supplied by Bazán in the 1990s.
The plan, however, depended on whether Angola could secure funding for the purchase.
The Mandume-class patrol boats are relatively small vessels, measuring 29 metres from bow to stern and weighing 112 tonnes when fully loaded.
Each boat uses two Paxman Vega diesel engines and can reach speeds of up to 27 knots.
They are fitted with a machine gun at the front, while the rear deck has space for a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB).
Angola currently operates four Mandume-class vessels as well as three CMN HSI 32, four Super Dvora Mk 3, three Ocean Eagle 43, five ARESA PVC-170 and two Namacurra-class patrol boats, two CMN LCT 200-70 landing craft and other small boats.
Source: africa.businessinsider.com
