The steel cutting ceremony of the first patrol vessel (OPV - Offshore Patrol Vessel) ordered to Fincantieri by the Qatari Ministry of Defence within the national naval acquisition programme, took place today at the Muggiano (La Spezia) yard.

Following the enactment of the contract with Argentina, Naval Group has started off work on the four offshore patrol vessels, the French shipyard confirmed today. The first vessel to be delivered will be L'Adroit. Developed by Naval Group and built out of its own funds, this vessel had previously been made available to the French Navy since 2011.

The Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Navy, Admiral Teodoro López Calderón, presided over in Ferrol the commissioning of the new OPV ‘Furor’, the service announced yesterday.