Italy’s Fincantieri delivers two patrol boats to Bangladeshi coastguard

Trieste (Italy), Oct 12 (IANS/AKI) Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri on Monday delivered at its shipyard here, the last two of four Offshore Patrol Vessels, to the Bangladesh Coast Guard through the upgrading and conversion of "Minerva" class corvettes, decommissioned by the Italian Navy.

The units were completed at the Integrated naval shipyard of Muggiano, near La Spezia in the Liguria region in northwest Italy, Fincantieri said in a statement.

Attending the ceremony, among others, Mostafa Kamal Uddin, Secretary, Internal Affairs of Bangladesh and Rear Admiral A.M.M.M. Aurangzeb Chowdhury, Director General of the Bangladesh Coast Guard, while Fincantieri was represented by Paolo Frino, Deputy Senior Vice President of Fincantieri Services.

Together with two vessel delivered in August 2016, the two units will form the backbone of the Bangladesh Coast Guard's fleet, extending its lifespan by more than twenty years, Fincantieri said.

The units will be used to patrol the country's maritime boundaries and traffic in its Exclusive Economic Zone, with capabilities to contain environmental pollution and to rescue and assist civilian populations in the case of humanitarian emergencies, Fincantieri said.

"Within the development of Fincantieri business in the Far East, this agreement is moreover particularly relevant for the supply of after-sales services for naval vessels," the shipbuilder said.

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