Home Africa Swiftships gets $22.1M for six more coastal patrol boats for Egypt

Swiftships gets $22.1M for six more coastal patrol boats for Egypt

28-meter coastal patrol craft Egypt
Photo: Swiftships

Louisiana-based boat builder Swiftships has received a $22.1 million contract from the US defense department for the delivery of an additional six 28-meter coastal patrol craft for Egypt.

The contract covers material production kits, Zodiac rigid inflatable boats, forward looking infrared systems, personal computer packages, associated contractor engineering technical services, and provisioned item orders.

According to previous announcements, Egypt has already procured 13 of the 28-meter boats, which are assembled in Alexandria, Egypt, in coordination with Swiftships under the company’s Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model.

The foreign military sale of the craft for the Egyptian Navy is being coordinated by the US Naval Sea Systems Command.

According to the contract announcement, additional options, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $26.3 million.

Work under this order is expected to be completed by November 2023.

The 28-meter craft has a top speed of 25 knots and can perform coastal defense, anti-surface operations, maritime security operations and maritime interdiction, surveillance and intelligence gathering, and search and rescue operations.

Swiftships says it has so far built around 30 boats for the Egyptian Navy including mine hunters, survey vessels, and both steel and aluminum patrol boats.

In addition to the 28-meter boats, the company built six 35-meter long patrol boats at the Egyptian Ship Building and Repairs Company in Alexandria.

In addition to the Swiftships designs, Egypt is also receiving larger patrol boats from Germany’s Lurssen. The 40-meter and 60-meter vessels had initially been destined for Saudi Arabia but are now being delivered to Egypt after the original agreement fell through. Egypt is getting nine patrol boats and one coastal defense boat from Germany under a 130 million euro agreement that was first revealed in 2020.