Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel explained

The Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel is a class of four offshore patrol vessels in Brunei Darussalam, constructed for the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN;, TLDB).^[1] They are the largest and most capable ships of the Royal Brunei Navy, and often participate in international naval exercises.^[2] The lead ship in the class is .

Development

Nakhoda Ragam contract dispute

Prior to the Darussalam-class, three s were built to order by BAE Systems Marine (now BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships) in the United Kingdom for the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN). The contract was awarded to GEC-Marconi in 1995, and the ships, a variant of the F2000 design, were launched in January 2001, June 2001 and June 2002, at the then BAE Systems Marine yard at Scotstoun, Glasgow in Scotland. Brunei refused to accept the three Nakhoda Ragam-class corvettes from BAE Systems. The contract dispute became subject to arbitration, and was ultimately settled in BAE System's favour. The vessels were handed over to Royal Brunei Technical Services (RBTS) in June 2007. In 2007, Brunei contracted the German Lürssen Werft shipyard to find a new customer for the three ships, and the ships were eventually purchased by Indonesia.

Offshore patrol vessel programme

Brunei ordered the Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessels (OPV) from Lürssen Werft, the same company that Brunei contracted to sell the disputed Nakhoda Ragam-class corvettes. Keel laying for the first two vessels of this new class took place on 26 June 2009 at Lürssen shipyard in Germany. The first tranche of two vessels were launched 12 November 2010 and delivered to the Royal Brunei Navy in January 2011.^{[3] [4]} The first two were jointly commissioned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah on . The second subsequent tranche of two vessels were delivered two phases, the final vessel arriving in Brunei in 2014.

Ships in class

pennant
no.!!name!!MMSI!!call
sign!!builder!!launched!!commissioned!!status

06		508111122 ^[5]	V8DE	Lurssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack			commissioned
07		508111123 ^[6]	V8DF	Lurssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack			commissioned
08		508111124 ^[7]	V8DG	Lurssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack			commissioned
09		508211110 ^[8]	V8DL	Lurssen Werft, Bremen-Vegesack		^[9]	commissioned

See also

• List of Royal Brunei Navy ships
• List of naval ship classes in service

Notes and References

1. Web site: RB Navy organisation. MinDef.gov.bn. Royal Brunei Navy, Public Relations Unit, Ministry of Defence Brunei Darussalam. 2015. 4 January 2024.
2. Web site: KDB Darulaman (OPV-08) offshore patrol vessel (2011) – KDB Darulaman OPV-08 became the third ship of the Darussalam-class in 2011 when commissioned for service as part of the Royal Brunei Navy.. MilitaryFactory.com. Military Factory. 5 May 2017. 3 January 2024.
3. Web site: Waleed PD Mahdini. 12 August 2011. KDB Darulaman completes RBN's trio of maritime assets. BruSearch.com. Borneo Bulletin. 14 December 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141214163023/http://www.brusearch.com/news/96203. 14 December 2014.
4. Web site: Royal Brunei Navy celebrates 46th anniversary at International Defence Exhibition BRIDEX 2011. ArmyRecognition.com. Army Recognition. 8 July 2011. 5 January 2024.
5. Web site: Brunei Gov Vessel I395768 – KDB Darussalam. VesselTracker.com. VesselTracker.com GmbH. 5 January 2024.
6. Web site: Brunei Gov Vessel I390911 – KDB Darulehsan. VesselTracker.com. VesselTracker.com GmbH. 5 January 2024.
7. Web site: Brunei Gov Vessel I689990 – KDB Darulaman. VesselTracker.com. VesselTracker.com GmbH. 5 January 2024.
8. Web site: Brunei Gov Vessel I1764784 – KDB Daruttaqwa. VesselTracker.com. VesselTracker.com GmbH. 5 January 2024.
9. Web site: Rabiatul Kamit. 9 September 2014. HRH commissions new ship. BT.com.bn. Brunei-Muara. The Brunei Times, Brunei Times Sdn Bhd.. 14 December 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141214165305/http://www.bt.com.bn/news-national/2014/09/09/hrh-commissions-new-ship. 14 December 2014.