FB Design to build 15 patrol boats for Hellenic Coast Guard

Hellenic Coast Guard signed a contract with Italian shipyard FB (Fabio Buzzi) Design to acquire fifteen FB 56′ SF patrol boats on Tuesday 29th January 2020, FB Design has announced. The project was achieved in partnership with Italian company Elettronica Marittima and through the help of FB Design dealer Interso Support Services Ltd.

The FB 56′ SF has a full offshore operational capability in Sea State 4 and a guaranteed survival in Sea State 7. Its maximum speed is over 50 knots, with a maximum continuous speed of 40 knots. The design of the boat is optimized for the particular conditions of the Greek seas, so as to ensure high performance combined with steady cruising and maximum absorption of the stresses of the operating systems, especially of the crew due to the high speeds during adverse weather conditions. The range at economical speed of 40 knots is more than 450 nm.

The vessel’s propulsion includes: 2 Scania Marine Main Engines (1100 hp), ZF gearboxes and Trimax surface drives.

The boat’s construction solution is based on high-tech composite material, and its application is carried out by modern special methods that ensure the full exploitation of its properties, thus keeping the weight of the boat at a low level without affecting endurance. All FB Design products use the exclusive patented Structural Foam solution, to create unsinkable vessels.

Its total length is 16.10 m and its width is 4.1 m. It has two wreckage stations on its deck: the first is on the deck and to the right of the bridge and has a Jason Crandle type retrieval net, while the second is at stern and is specially designed so that a stretcher can be lifted from the sea by shipwreck.

The ship’s bridge is fitted with anti-ballistic windows as per standard STANAG 4569 (NATO Level 2) to offer optimal crew protection.

The vessel is fitted with a full range of modern radio equipments including satellite antenna, HF, VHF and UHF, NAVTEX and GMDSS (N2) areas A1 and A2, AIS. To identify surface targets the FB 56 SF is also fitted with a cooled type optical and thermal imaging system.

Vessel deliveries will begin in about 10 months and are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.