On 8 September 2012, the SIGMA Class Frigate, Allal Ben Abdellah, built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) in Vlissingen, was transferred to the Royal Moroccan Navy.
For this occasion DSNS had the opportunity to let the ceremony take place in Rotterdam, during the 35th edition of the “World Port Days”.
The delivery of the last ship of a series of three marks the culmination of a period of dedicated and successful partnership with the Royal Moroccan Navy. All three ships were delivered in time, on schedule, meeting all the requirements as stated in the contract to the full satisfaction of the customer.
The delivery of the last of three frigates was achieved within four and a half years from the effective date of contract, after a period of thorough engineering and three years of construction.
The first frigate Tarik Ben Zayid was commissioned on 10 September 2011, the second Sultan Moulay Ismail was commissioned on 10 March 2012.
After commissioning, the crew will continue with another three weeks of Sail Safety Training in Den Helder and North Sea. This training will be conducted by training teams of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
At the end of September, after conclusion of this training period, the Allal Ben Abdellah will start her maiden voyage to Morocco.
SIGMA
The three SIGMA-class frigates for the Royal Moroccan Navy have been designed according to Schelde Naval Shipbuilding’s SIGMA-approach and are a further development of the SIGMA-corvettes for the Indonesian Navy. The SIGMA approach applies modularity in many areas.
The Royal Moroccan Navy SIGMA Class frigates are equipped to conduct the traditional naval tasks as well as maritime security operations. The vessels are also suited to support humanitarian aid operations.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, September 10, 2012; Image: Damen