Royal Saudi Navy Receives The Last Batch Of HSI32 Fast Patrol Boats
Last week, the Royal Saudi Navy (Al-Quwwat al-Bahriyah al-Arabiyah as-Su’udiyah) received the last batch of Interceptor HSI32 fast patrol boats from French shipbuilder CMN NAVAL and Saudi Arabian-based Zamil Shipyards. Thus, Saudi Arabia’s production and localization project for HSI-32 fast patrol boat systems, which began in October 2020, was completed. The Royal Saudi Navy’s Commander, Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, the CEO of Zamil Marine Services Company Sufian Al-Zamil, and the French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ludovic Pouille, as well as many military officials and company employees, attended the delivery ceremony held at Zamil Shipyards’ Dammam port.
“The successful completion of the fast interceptor boat (HSI32) project is clear evidence of our serious and complementary work with our partners in this system, represented by Zamil Marine Services Company and the French company CMN, with the General Authority’s support and encouragement,” said Sufian Al-Zamil, CEO of Zamil Marine Services Company, at the delivery ceremony. “For the military industry to produce fast interceptor boats for the Royal Saudi Navy, emphasizing that this important and strategic national project will help strengthen the Kingdom’s strategic independence and increase the level of contribution to increase the local share, in addition to our national competencies in supporting the directions of this promising sector, which is a source of great pride for this generous homeland.”
Iskandar Safa, Chairman of the Board of the French shipyard CMN Naval, expressed his pleasure and pride in this achievement that represents a qualitative partnership, emphasizing his intention to advance cooperation in future military industry projects.
The delivery took place as part of a $480 million agreement signed in 2018 between the Saudi company Zamil Offshore Services and the French shipyard CMN, which covers the construction of 39 HSI32 interceptors to contribute to the protection of the Kingdom’s vital and strategic interests, along with various units of the Eastern and Western Fleet of the Saudi Navy. According to the agreement, 21 ships were built by CMN shipyard in France and the rest at Zamil Offshore Services facilities in Saudi Arabia. The first two boats of the HSI 32 project, tail numbers 315 and 316, were launched in 2019 and delivered to Saudi Arabia in January 2020 under a contract executed with the cooperation of Zamil Marine Services, Advanced Electronics (a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian Military Industries), and the French CMN.
The HSI 32 is a fast interceptor that is a member of the DV Interceptor family and was designed and built by the French shipyard CMN, which is a part of the Privinvest Shipbuilding Group. The ship, which was first on display at NAVDEX 2015 in the UAE, is built for maritime attack operations, search and rescue (SAR), maritime security, convoy protection, maritime policing, anti-piracy, protecting vulnerable ships and offshore installations, and controlling illegal immigration and smuggling. The vessel is 32 meters long and 7 meters wide, with a range of 1500 kilometers and a top speed of 98 kilometers per hour. Armament options include a remotely operated 20mm gun and two 12.7mm machine guns. A 4.8-meter RHIB can also be launched from the boat’s stern.