STM to build logistics support vessels for Portuguese Navy
The NRP Berrio, now decommissioned, will be replaced by the new vessels. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Xuaxo, CC BY-SA 3.0)
The contract marks the first time the Turkish shipbuilder will build vessels for a NATO member state.
Turkish shipbuilder STM has secured the contract to design and build two auxiliary oiler replenisher and logistics ships (AOR+) for the Portuguese Navy.
STM has had a productive Q4 2024, launching a new family of uncrewed underwater vehicles at SAHA Expo in October, and beginning to cut steel on the first of three corvettes for the Royal Malaysian Navy in December.
The award for that contract drew attention to the company earlier in the year, as the Malaysian work represented a shift from the country’s previous shipbuilding stalwart, the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.
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The shift to STM meant replacing a tried and true Chinese corvette, the Keris-class, with the company’s own ADA-class. STM also claimed it could complete the work and deliver three Malaysian corvettes within three and a half years of the first steel being cut.
The Portuguese contract will be SMT’s first work with both a European nation and a NATO member. Work will begin on the two vessels in 2025 at a private Turkish shipyard.
The vessels will replace the NRP Bérrio, a fleet support tanker which was decommissioned in 2020.
Since the decommissioning, the Portuguese Navy has had no replenishment-at-sea capability. The new vessels were always intended to be multi-functional, deploying modular design and adding force projection and amphibious operation to their core replenishment-at-sea work.
At the signing ceremony to confirm the contract award, STM general manager Özgür Güleryüz said: “The vessels will feature an original design and modular architecture tailored to optimally meet the strategic objectives and operational requirements of the Portuguese Navy.
“They will boast greater speed and cargo capacity compared to ships of similar size. We believe these ships will make a significant contribution to the Portuguese Navy’s regional operations as a key player in the Atlantic and to NATO missions.”
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NRE+ (Navio Reabastecedor de Esquadra e Logístico) (1-2) [Portugal]
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