UAE buys patrol vessels from Edge Group, Fincantieri joint venture

ROME — The United Arab Emirates’ coast guard has signed a €400 million (U.S. $435 million) deal to acquire 10 offshore patrol vessels from both a domestic defense conglomerate and an Italian shipbuilder, the companies announced Monday.

The deal follows the creation of a joint venture in February between the UAE’s Edge Group and Italy’s Fincantieri.

The companies will produce the 51-meter-long vessels as upgraded versions of Saettia-class ships, a type Fincantieri previously supplied to the Italian coast guard.

Edge Group holds a 51% stake in the joint venture, dubbed Maestral, but is leaning on Fincantieri’s shipbuilding expertise. The firms announced in February that they would market vessels to non-NATO countries.

“In just three months since first announcing the creation of this unique venture with Fincantieri, we are now announcing a significant national order for these sophisticated OPVs, to be built both here at our shipyards in Abu Dhabi, and in Italy,” said Faisal Al Bannai, who chairs Edge Group’s board of directors.

The deal reflects Fincantieri’s policy of collaborating with overseas partners on the local assembly of vessels, but based on its own designs, in order to secure export orders.

“It’s a win-win deal,” said Matteo Perego di Cremnago, Italy’s junior defense minister. The partnership, he added, includes “the transfer of know-how and technology.”

When it was first announced in February, the firms said their joint venture would aim to sell vessels to countries by leveraging the UAE’s background in government-to-government deals as well as its export credit financing packages.

The firms said they would also seek to co-develop midsize submarines.

State-controlled Fincantieri is Italy’s main naval contractor and is also building FREMM frigates for the U.S. Navy at its American yard.

Correction: A previous version of this story included an erroneous headline. The United Arab Emirates is the customer for the offshore patrol vessels.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——阿联酋海岸警卫队周一宣布，已与一家国内国防集团和一家意大利造船厂签署了一项价值 4 亿欧元（4.35 亿美元）的协议，将购买 10 艘近海巡逻舰。

此前，阿联酋 Edge 集团和意大利 Fincantieri 集团于 2 月份成立了一家合资企业。

这些公司将生产 51 米长的舰艇，作为 Saettia 级舰艇的升级版，Fincantieri 此前曾向意大利海岸警卫队提供过这种类型的舰艇。

Edge集团持有合资企业Maestral 51%的股份，但主要依靠芬坎蒂尼集团的造船技术。两家公司于今年2月宣布，他们将向非北约国家销售船舶。

“自从三个月前宣布与芬坎蒂尼集团成立这一独特的合资企业以来，我们现在宣布获得一份重要的国家订单，订购这些先进的近海巡逻舰，这些巡逻舰将在我们位于阿布扎比的造船厂和意大利建造，”Edge集团董事会主席费萨尔·阿尔·班奈说道。

该交易体现了芬坎蒂尼集团的政策，即与海外合作伙伴合作，根据自身设计在当地组装船舶，以确保出口订单。

意大利国防部副部长马泰奥·佩雷戈·迪·克雷姆纳戈表示：“这是一项双赢协议。”他还补充说，合作内容包括“知识和技术转让”。

今年 2 月首次宣布成立合资企业时，两家公司表示，合资企业将利用阿联酋在政府间交易方面的经验以及出口信贷融资方案，向各国出售船舶。

这些公司表示，他们还将寻求合作开发中型潜艇。

意大利国有控股的芬坎蒂尼集团是意大利主要的造船承包商，并且还在其位于美国的船厂为美国海军建造FREMM护卫舰。

更正：此前版本标题有误。近海巡逻舰的客户是阿拉伯联合酋长国。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。