Royal Moroccan Navy’s SIGMA Class Frigate Starts SAT

The 98 meters long SIGMA class frigate, the second built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding for the Royal Moroccan Navy, left Vlissingen on the 18th of November for her sea acceptance trials (SAT) in the North Sea, right on schedule as agreed in the contract.

During the SAT, a very intensive program will be carried out in which the platform as well as the sensor weapons and communications suite are extensively tested. The tests are performed by representatives of the yard in close cooperation with representatives of the subcontractors, the Royal Moroccan navy and the Royal Netherlands navy.

The first SIGMA frigate was transferred to the Royal Moroccan Navy on 10 September 2011.

The second frigate is scheduled to be transferred in February  2012 whilst the third frigate, also 98 meters, is still under construction at the Damen yard in Vlissingen and is scheduled for Sea Acceptance Trials in May 2012.

SIGMA:

The three SIGMA-class frigates for the Royal Moroccan Navy have been designed according to Schelde Naval Shipbuilding’s revolutionary SIGMA-approach and are a further development of the SIGMA-corvettes for the Indonesian Navy. The SIGMA approach applies modularity in many areas.

The Moroccan SIGMA Class frigates equipped to conduct the traditional naval tasks as well as maritime security operations. The vessels are also suited to support humanitarian aid operations.

DAMEN SCHELDE NAVAL SHIPBUILDING:

The Damen Shipyards Group offers a complete range of naval and patrol vessels ranging from 7 to over 200 meters.

Part of this portfolio are the Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) naval combatants and auxiliaries, embodied by the SIGMA and ENFORCER series.

At present DSNS also has under construction for the Royal Netherlands Navy: four Patrol Ships and a Joint Logistic Support Ship (JSS), the largest military vessel built by DSNS so far.

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Naval Today Staff, November 23, 2011; Image: damen