Lithuania shipyard lays keel for Singapore's first maritime security OPVs

The keel-laying ceremony for the first two of four Potsdam class-derived OPVs on order for the Republic of Singapore Navy. (Republic of Singapore Navy)

Lithuania's Western Baltic Shipyard has laid down the first two maritime security offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) on order for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), the service disclosed in a statement on 7 April.

A ceremony to mark the occasion was held on the same day at the shipyard's facilities in Klaipėda and it was officiated by Singapore's Chief of Defence Force, Vice Admiral Aaron Beng, the service added.

Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) first disclosed in November 2023 that it has signed a contract with German shipbuilder Fassmer for four new OPVs.

“Based on the Potsdam-class OPVs in service with the German police, our OPVs were designed by Fassmer, and are being built in Lithuania and Germany,” said the RSN in its 7 April statement, in apparent reference to the German Bundespolizei's fleet of Potsdam-class ships.

MINDEF has not disclosed further specifications of the OPVs, but the Potsdam class displaces about 1,900 tonnes.

It can accommodate one 12 tonne helicopter on its flight deck and can deploy two interceptor boats and embark up to five 20 ft containerised mission modules.

The German OPVs are each armed with a 57 mm naval gun in the primary position, and the weapon is controlled by a Saab EOS 500 optronic director. The OPVs are expected to join the RSN from 2028 onwards and will progressively replace the service's existing Sentinel-class maritime security and response vessels (MSRVs).

For more information, please see Work begins on Singapore's maritime security OPVs .