Goulette - Tunisian Navy's new flagship "Istiklal" (Independence) was launched on Friday in the Gulf of Tunis.
Made entirely by Tunisian shipbuilding engineers, the new patrol vessel helped the state Treasury save nearly 40% of its cost on the international market.
Thee 26.5-metre long and 5.8-metre large patrol can reach a speed of 25 knots (equivalent to 46 km/h) and cross 600 nautical miles. It is powered by two Rolls-Royce engines (3,200 hp each) and has an accommodation capacity of 12 people. The patrol vessel has three machine guns.
The construction of the patrol vessel lasted two years and some months. Work started in March 2013 and the vessel was delivered to the Ministry of Defence in July 2015. The patrol vessel was built in partnership with a local company based in Sfax specialising in shipbuilding.
Istiklal's main mission is to monitor territorial waters.
Present at the launch ceremony of Istiklal patrol vessel, Minister of National Defence Farhat Horchani boasted this achievement "a first in the Arab world and the continent after South Africa."
He said Tunisia is able not only to meet its needs in military equipment but also to move to export. This will certainly help boost development, create jobs and involve several engineering, electronics, electricity, telecommunication and leather industries, he noted.
The minister also pointed out that the modernisation of the legal framework of public-private partnership is an essential condition to promote the naval military industry in Tunisia.
He noted that a relevant draft law is submitted for review to the government and will later be referred to the House of People's Representatives.
Present at the ceremony, several naval engineers told TAP they are now negotiating with more than an African state the construction of similar vessels, saying this would open broad prospects for the Tunisian naval industry for the marketing of such vessels on the external market.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2015
