New order of 8 diving support fastboats for French Navy

20 December 2019

Merré Shipyard is showing a new success at the end of 2019 !

After winning, in a consortium with the CMN Shipyard, the contract for the 29 tugboats of the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) in December 2016, Merré Shipyard is again awarded by the DGA, this time alone, to design, build and commission 8 Diving Suppor Fasboats which will delivered in Toulon, Brest and Cherbourg, as well as the Saint Mandrier diving school.

Taken over at the start of 2012 by the BMA group, which already owned the Forminox industrial boilermaking plant in Vertou near Nantes, Merré Shipyard has developed strongly for export in the segment of harbour work (tugs, pilot launches, multi-purpose vessels "MultiSEEM ”, …) and workboats (pontoons with piles, split barges, dredges, …) while remaining very present on the French market, relying in particular on its experience in dredging and the construction of double-end ferries.

The Brest shipyard CIB joined the BMA group at the start of 2016 to set up a naval pole on 3 ship construction sites, the Nort-sur-Erdre sites where the architecture and design skills of ships are also grouped together, from Brest and Saint-Nazaire.

This new contract was notified on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, this date constituting the starting point for the detailed design of these vessels ; construction of the first fastboat is expected to start in the second half of 2020, leading to the start of testing about a year later. At the end of a probationary phase of exploitation of the first ship of 3 months by the Owner in Toulon, Merré Shipyard will start the construction of the 7 other ships which will all be delivered within approximately 3 years, that is to say for 2025. The construction of these ships will concern the various sites of the naval pole of the BMA group, in particular the sites of Nort-sur-Erdre and Brest.

She will be designed by Frédéric Neuman and built in aluminum; their length is 26.50 m for a width of 7.00 m, a draft of 1.70 m and a displacement of 87.00 t. They are powered by two lines of shafts and propellers driven by diesel engines, to reach a maximum speed of 13 knots; an electric motorization allows these ships a prolonged and discreet navigation at very low speeds. The ships have all the equipment required to carry out the specific missions specific to these ships.

The Merré and CIB shipyards currently have in construction, the “Bac 24”, a double-end ferry of 66.00 m overall length (40.00 m hull length), ordered by the Department of Seine-Maritime for the passage of Quillebeuf water on the Seine, available in March 2020, seven RP10 tugs, available at the end of 2020, and a multi-purpose vessel " MultiSEEM 20-09 " of 20.00 m intended for the Grand Maritime Port of Le Havre, available in May 2020.

The success of a team, Moun Bourjij and François Martin, respectively Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the BMA group, insist on this point: "the development of the naval pole of the BMA group is neither the result of chance, nor that of the performance of one or two individuals ; it is truly the result of the combination of the skills of the personnel of our companies and their commitment to the development and conquest project that we have proposed to them. The team is mobilized, young people have come to join the oldest and the necessary new stages of progress in the structuring of the naval pole are approached with appetence, desire and a small dose of excitement inherent in any challenge. The VSP market is the biggest market ever won by Chantier Merré. The award of this contract for ships intended for the French Navy is therefore a great source of pride for each of them and also an additional reason for motivation."