Navantia upgrading Mozambican patrol vessel

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Navantia has signed a contract to upgrade a Mozambican navy patrol vessel donated by the Spanish Navy last year for anti-piracy and fisheries patrol duties.

The Spanish shipbuilder signed the contract on November 20 for the upgrade of the Conejera class vessel Dragonera (P-32), which will be renamed Pebane (P-001) when it joins the Mozambican fleet.

Navantia, along with technical support and consulting company Isdefe, submitted a bid to modernise the vessel in order to extend its operational life. Isdefe, which belongs to the Spanish defence ministry, will take charge of managing the training of the Mozambican crew, which will be conducted by the Spanish Navy.

Navantia said the contract represents more than 50 000 hours of work for the company and its subcontractors, and will employ more than 50 people in the five months that the work is scheduled to take place over. Work was due to commence on November 21.
“This is the first contract signed with Mozambique by Navantia, which continues to add new customer countries, and is the beginning of the modernization of vessels “surplus” from the Spanish Navy in view of their subsequent export sale,” Navantia said.

Conejera (P-31) was sold to Senegal while Dragonera (P-32) was sold to Mozambique in October 2011 for the symbolic amount of 100 euros. All four vessels of the Conejera class were decommissioned in 2010 after 30 years of service. At the time of the sale, the Spanish government said that the aim of the sales were to “strengthen the security and surveillance of the maritime areas” of the respective countries.

The Conejera class has a displacement of 85 tons, a length of 32.2 metres, a beam of 5.3 metres and a draft of 1.4 metres. They were armed with a 20 mm Oerlikon Mk 10 cannon and two 7.62 mm machineguns.

Two diesel engines, each producing 2 840 hp and driving two propellers, give a top speed of 25 knots and a range of 1 200 miles at 15 knots. Total crew is 12.