Nigerian Navy signs agreement for refits

NIGERIA: The Nigerian Navy signed a contract with a Turkish shipyard on Friday for the refit and remodelling of their flagship frigate, the NNS Aradu.

The project will be undertaken at the Dearsan Shipyard in Istanbul and will include the repair and renewal of out of date systems as well as equipment to modernise the vessel that was commissioned more than 40 years ago.

The MEKO 360 class NNS Aradu was built by the German Blohm & Voss Shipyard and commissioned in 1982, has a length of 125 metres and a displacement of 3,500 tons.

The contract also includes the delivery of a 57-metre Tuzla Class Patrol Boat which has been designed for patrol, escort, intelligence reconnaissance, surveillance, and other maritime security duties.

A contract signing ceremony was held between the Nigerian Navy and Dearsan Shipyard on 6 June 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria which was attended by the Members of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Officials of the Ministry of Defence, Commander of the Naval Forces Vice Admiral AZ GAMBO, Headquarters staff of the Naval Forces Command, Chairman of the Board of Dearsan Shipyard Aziz YILDIRIM, and Dearsan company executives.