The Sa'ar 62-class offshore patrol vessel, commonly known as the OPV 62, is a type of vessel used by the Navy of Equatorial Guinea, the Cyprus Navy, the Azerbaijan Coast Guard, the Coastguard of Kazakhstan and the Honduran Navy. Designed by Israel Shipyards Ltd, these offshore patrol vessels are based on the Israeli Navy's . The ships are related to the Sa'ar 4-derived OPV 58, known as the 'Fourni'-class in Hellenic Coast Guard service.
Design The patrol craft have a basic design, but are equipped with modern sensors, systems and weapons. The vessels armament gives them the capability to engage surface, air, and land threats and targets, and the countermeasure system can give them protection from anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. The vessels can deploy small boats for boarding operations, and search and rescue. The vessels have a flight deck for an Airbus EC135 helicopter that can be used to assist the vessel in its missions.
History
The Azerbaijan Coast Guard, officially the maritime brigade of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, ordered 6 OPV 62s to be built locally on the Caspian Sea. The vessels were constructed at Azerbaijan Coast Guard's Ship Construction and Repair Center in Türkan. The first, pennant number S-201, was launched on 9 September 2015. The ships are heavily armed for their size, including an 8-cell MLS-NLOS launcher firing Spike-NLOS missiles.
The Cypriot Navy ordered an OPV 62 in December 2015 for the purpose of protecting the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus. The completed vessel was officially launched by Israel Shipyards in September 2017, before being commissioned into the service of the Cypriot Navy as the Commodore Andreas Ioannides (P61) in January 2018. The vessel is named as a memorial to Andreas Ioannides, a former Commander of the Cyprus Navy.
The Honduran Navy ordered an OPV 62 in 2016. The patrol boat, named General José Trinidad Cabañas (FNH2021), was delivered in December 2019. The vessel is named after José Trinidad Cabañas, a former president of Honduras. The General Cabañas is intended to combat drug trafficking, as well as render humanitarian aid in emergencies. The patrol vessel features a new modernised superstructure compared to previous boats in the series.
Ships in class NameBuilt ForCommissionedStatusImage Kié-Ntem February 2011 Active Litoral February 2011 Active S-201 November 2015 Active S-202 Active S-203 Active S-204 Active S-205 Active S-206 Active Commodore Andreas Ioannides (P61) January 2018 Active General José Trinidad Cabañas (FNH2021) December 2019 Active
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