A cargo ship with two Ocea FPB 98 patrol boats on board crossed the Bosphorus and entered the Black Sea. Judging by the camouflage of the Ukrainian Maritime Guard, these are the same boats that were built by the French shipbuilding company OCEA on behalf of Ukraine, writes Militarnyi.
The ship was filmed by Turkish spotter Yörük Işık and posted on Twitter.
Heavly lift cargo vessel transited Bosphorus en route from St. Nazaire to Constanta carrying two OCEA Les Sables-d’Olonne built, 32-meter FPB 98 patrol boats with aluminum hulls for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, @MVS_UA. (Video edited for low resolution) pic.twitter.com/KjyrubrRw2
— Yörük Işık (@YorukIsik) August 21, 2023According to the post, the ship is heading to the Romanian port of Constanta, where the main base of the Romanian Navy is located.
This is the second batch of Ukrainian OCEA FPB 98 boats to be delivered to the Black Sea. Earlier, in June 2023, the cargo ship Gaja transported two more FPB 98 boats across the Bosphorus.
In fact, the contract with OCEA was for 20 FPB 98 boats, five of which were ready for delivery in April 2023.
By the way, patrol boats can be a good platform for launching maritime strike drones, as was the case, for example, during World War II with the Motoscafo da Turismo.
It is not yet known how the boats will be transferred to Ukraine and how they will be equipped and armed.
Specifications of boats OCEA FPB 98
Type - patrol boat
Displacement - about 100 tons
Length - 31.8 m
Beam - 6.3 m
Draft - 1.15 m
Hull - aluminum alloy
Speed - up to 35 knots (65 km/h)
Range - 1,200 miles (2,200 km) at 12 knots
Autonomy - from 7 to 10 days
Crew - 14 people
Armament - 20 or 30-mm artillery unit
