
A ceremony to mark the start of construction on the first of two OPV 60 M vessels for Montenegro was held at Kership's shipyard in Lorient on 24 April 2025. (Montenegrin MoD)
Kership, the joint venture partnership between French shipyards Naval Group and Piriou, has started construction on the first of two OPV 60 M offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) on order for the Montenegrin Navy.
A ceremony to mark the occasion was held at Kership's facilities in Lanester, Lorient, on 24 April, the Montenegrin Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the same day. The event was attended by Montenegrin Minister of Defence Dragan Krapović, Kership director Pascal Le Roy, and General Gaël Diaz de Tuesta, director of international development at the French defence procurement agency (Direction Générale de l'Armement: DGA).
Kership is building the two vessels – which will be named Petar I Njegoš and Petar II Njegoš – under a contract awarded by the Montenegrin MoD during the Euronaval 2024 exhibition held in Paris in November. The deal forms part of an intergovernmental agreement on defence co-operation signed between France and Montenegro in Paris in April 2024, and is the largest project within the framework of the agreement.
Under the terms of the contract the two OPVs are planned to be delivered in 2026–27. The scope of the contract also includes a training package and initial logistics support.
French state support associated with the contract will be carried out by the DGA via a technical arrangement with the logistics directorate of the Montenegrin MoD. The DGA's support mainly consists in monitoring the general progress of the Kership commercial contract and conducting quality assurance in France.
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