NRP Viana do Castelo
Class overview
BuildersEstaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo (ENVC) and West Sea Shipyard
Operators Portuguese Navy
Preceded byJoão Coutinho-class corvette
SubclassesNPO - ocean patrol vessel NCP - anti-pollution vessel
In commission2010 - Present
Planned10 OPV
Completed4
Cancelled0
Active4
General characteristics
TypeOffshore patrol vessel
Displacement1,850 tons
Length83.10 m (272 ft 8 in)
Beam12.95 m (42 ft 6 in)
Draught3.82 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion2 x Wärtsilä diesel engines (3,900 kW (5,200 hp) each), 2 electric engines (200 kW (270 hp) each)
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) maximum
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 x Rigid Inflatable Boats
Complement35 accommodation for 32 more
Sensors and
processing systems		Leonardo Medusa MK4/B electro-optical fire control system, Electro-optical SAGEM / VIGY, 2x KH Manta2000 navigation radar, iXblue Quadrans inertial navigation system, Furuno Electric's FAR-3230 F-band, FAR-3220 I-band navigation radars
Armament
Aviation facilitiesMedium-sized helicopter pad but no hangar supporting Super Lynx Mk.95
Notes
  • Anti-pollution version (NCP)
  • System for recovery and transfer of pollutants spilled on the ocean.
  • Barrier launcher.
  • 2 × Floating tank of "Unibag" type, of 50 m3 each.
  • 1 × Internal coil of vapor circulation, to allow the heating of the existing pollutant products inside of the tanks, to facilitate their extraction.

The Viana do Castelo class is a class of offshore patrol vessels planned by and for the Portuguese Navy, as a result of the NPO2000 Project (Portuguese, Navios de Patrulha Oceânica, for Oceanic Patrol Vessels), that are being constructed in the West Sea Shipyard.

Design

The eight to ten vessels of this class, specially designed to operate in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, will replace the João Coutinho and Baptista de Andrade-class corvettes — currently being decommissioned —, and the small patrol boats of the Cacine-class in their primary fisheries protection role (SIFICAP) and in their search and rescue (SAR) roles. Two of these vessels of the version Navios de Combate à Poluição (NCP) will be fitted with anti-pollution systems — including Fast Oil Recovery systems. These vessels are named after Portuguese coastal cities.

The first vessel, NRP Viana do Castelo (P360), was commissioned on March 2010 after several years of delay. Six additional vessels are planned by the Portuguese Navy as announced in 2016 to be built in 2017 and 2018. June 22, 2018 the Portuguese Prime Minister announced an additional order of 6 Viana do Castelo Class ships( 60 million euros each) to be built at same shipyard over next 6 years along with a multi purpose ship for a total of 500 million euros. the order for 6 more NPO-2000 was finalized may 25 2021.

Viana do Castelo was temporarily commissioned with an old 40 mm gun, but the Portuguese navy is acquiring two 30 mm Oto Melara Marlin guns for the first two vessels.[1][2][3]

Armament

Armament consists of a 30 mm Oto Melara Marlin, it replaces one 40 mm L/60 turreted gun in the NRP Viana do Castelo, and four mounts to be armed with 2 x 7.62 mm light machine guns and two 12.7mm M2 Browning as well as two launching systems for MK55 Mod 2 mines.[4] The ships are designed to operate automated systems and are equipped with a single Sagem SA Vigy 10 MKIII naval surveillance and observation platform, three water cannons, and two rigid inflatable boats.[4] Each ship is capable of accommodating a Super Lynx MK95 light helicopter.[5]

The third serie of the Viana do Castelo-class will be armed with one 30 mm Oto Melara Marlin, one Mark 32 Torpedo Tube, one launching system for MK55 Mod 2 mines, countermeasure launcher, 2 x Protector RWS and various 12.7mm M2 Brownings.[6]

Modernization

The Portuguese Navy is gradually upgrading its Viana do Castelo-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) during their maintenance cycles.

This modernization is designed to eliminate logistical, functional and operational obsolescence; add capabilities needed for future operations; and enable the integration of modular systems for mission support, self-protection, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

Also Viana do Castelo-class is being progressively upgraded to enable vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities[7]

Ships

Pennant Name Version Laid down Shipyard Launched Commissioned Status
Series 1
P360 Viana do Castelo NPO 2004 ENVC 1 October 2005 March 2011 In service
P361 Figueira da Foz NPO 2004 ENVC 1 October 2005 June 2013 In service; tasked to the Azores and Madeira[8]
Series 2
P362 Sines NPO 2015 West Sea 3 May 2017[9] July 2018 In service
P363 Setúbal NPO 2015 West Sea 13 September 2017 [9] February 2019[10] In service
Series 3[11]
P364 Funchal NPO ? West Sea ? 2027[12] Approved
P365 Aveiro NPO ? West Sea ? 2028[12] Approved
P366  ? NPO ? West Sea ? 2029[12] Approved
P367  ? NPO ? West Sea ? 2029[12] Approved
P368  ? NPO ? West Sea ? 2030[12] Approved
P369  ? NPO ? West Sea ? 2030[12] Approved

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Diário da República, 2.ª série — N.º 34 — 18 de Fevereiro de 2010" (PDF). dre.pt. p. 7228. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-23.
  2. ↑ https://dn.sapo.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1519305
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 1 2 alves, Jose; January 3, on; Said, 2011 at 6:08 Am (2011-01-02). "Next Post". PoADU - Portuguese Aerospace & Defence Update. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-02-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-20. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  6. ↑ "Os 6 navios de patrulha oceânica do programa NPO3S".
  7. ↑ "Portugal to modernise OPVs". Janes.com. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  8. ↑ "NRP Figueira da Foz". Portuguese Navy. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Portuguese Navy inducts third OPV". IHS Jane's. 12 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Fourth Viana do Castelo-class OPV enters Portuguese Navy service". Naval Today. 7 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  11. ↑ "Conselho de Ministros aprova seis patrulhões por 352 milhões de euros". www.cmjornal.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 LUSA, O. MINHO / (2023-12-29). "Estaleiros de Viana vão construir 6 novos navios de patrulha por 300 milhões". O Minho (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-29.
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