Fincantieri’s Corvette and OPV for Qatar Naval Forces Arrives

The arrival in Qatar of the “Al Zubarah” corvette and the OPV – Offshore Patrol Vessel “Musherib”, built at the integrated military shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano as part of the naval acquisition programme of the Ministry of Defence of Qatar, was celebrated Sept 12 with a ceremony at the Umm Al Houl base, at the presence of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. For the occasion, the company was represented by Chairman Claudio Graziano and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Pierroberto Folgiero. A delegation from the client country led by Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs and Staff Major General Abdulla Bin Hassan Al Sulaiti, Commander of the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, also attended. The vessels will soon enter service for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The offices of Fincantieri Services Doha to support the Group’s activities in the area was also inaugurated at the same time. The Al Zubarah class, also known as Doha class, is a series of four multi-mission corvettes being developed by Fincantieri for the Qatari Emiri Navy. The corvettes can support escort, interdiction, maritime patrol and disaster relief operations. The Qatari Ministry of Defence in 2016 signed a contract with Fincantieri for seven surface vessels, including four corvettes, a landing platform dock (LPD) and two patrol vessels with associated support services.