Star of the show

Tuesday, 22 February, 2011

UAENS Al Hesen, the first Baynunah corvette to be built in country by Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), is the undoubted star of the show on the NAVDEX waterfront. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, officially inaugurated Al Hesen alongside at NAVDEX on 20 February.

The 71m multimission ship is the second of six Baynunah vessels being built for the UAE Navy under Brimstone targeted at fast boat threat 7 a prime contract awarded to ADSB in 2004. CMN, as design partner and principal subcontractor, has built the first-of-class at its Cherbourg yard in France, with the five remaining ships being built by ADSB at Mussafah under a transfer of technology arrangement.

The AED4 billion Baynunah corvette programme is intended to provide the UAE Naval Forces with an agile multimission littoral combatant able to conduct sustained operations through the Gulf region. The ships will have a maximum speed of 30kts and a range of 2,000 nautical miles at 15kts cruising speed. A hangar and flight deck aft provide for the operation of a 4.5-tonne helicopter.

First steel cutting for Al Hesen began at ADSB’s facility in December 2005, with the ship’s keel being laid in July 2006. The ship was launched on 22 July 2010 and commenced contractor’s sea trials on 25 January 2011. Test and trials will continue throughout 2011, with Al Hesen planned to be commissioned as an operational unit of the UAE Navy in 2012.

Sea trials of the lead vessel commenced from CMN’s yard in January 2010. Platform acceptance trials are due to be completed in mid-2011, with combat system trials to be finalised thereafter. Final delivery of all six ships to the UAE Navy will complete in mid-2014.