Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE-Italian venture wins $434m deal for naval vessels

By Pramod Kumar
Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the signing ceremony for the joint venture between Edge and Fincantieri Edge Group
Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the signing ceremony for the joint venture between Edge and Fincantieri

A joint venture between UAE’s state-owned defence company Edge Group and Italy’s Fincantieri will build a shipbuilding facility for advanced naval vessels in Abu Dhabi.

The new venture, Maestral, has secured a large order from the UAE Coast Guard Forces for 10 advanced 51-metre offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) worth €400 million ($434 million).

Person, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Newsletter
Get the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

Edge owns 51 percent stake in the new venture, which was first announced in February. The company will be awarded prime rights to non-Nato orders and a number of strategic orders placed by selected Nato member countries.

Faisal Al Bannai, chairman of Edge, said the new venture opens up opportunities for Maestral to promote a series of technologically advanced vessels, to navies and coast guards worldwide.

The P51MR Class 51m OPVs are characterised by their high modularity, stability in rough sea conditions, low radar signal signature, and high operational flexibility
The offshore patrol vessels are characterised by their high modularity, stability in rough sea conditions and high operational flexibility

He added that the OPVs will be built in Abu Dhabi and Italian shipyards.

Maestral has a commercial pipeline worth nearly €30 billion.

Fincantieri will manage the new entity. It has built more than 7,000 ships and is a key supplier to the Italian navy and the cruise ship industry.

This month Edge acquired 51 percent of a Brazilian company which specialises in the manufacture of non-lethal technologies such as tear gas and rubber bullets.

Latest articles

Electronics, Hardware, Computer Hardware

Mubadala acquires majority stake in Spanish IT company

Abu Dhabu’s Mubadala Capital has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Babel, a Madrid-based IT and digital transformation services provider. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, further expands Mubadala’s presence in the business services sector, following its earlier purchase of Dutch safety-critical training company RelyOn Nutec this year. The terms of the […]

Workers manufacture vehicle registration plates in Cairo, Egypt. September's PMI data showed a renewed decline across the Egyptian non-oil private sector

UAE non-oil growth weakens while Gulf neighbours improve

Growth in the UAE’s non-oil sector has slowed to its weakest point in three years, but activity in the Gulf countries continues to be the bright spot among survey results for economies in the Middle East. The UAE purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from S&P Global signalled the emirate’s slowest expansion in non-oil business activity for […]

Parkin will collaborate with UK-based Skyports on Dubai's vertiports

Parkin signs deal to develop vertiports for Dubai air taxis

Parkin, the Dubai government’s parking management company, has signed an agreement to develop the support network for flying taxis in the emirate. Under the agreement Parkin and Skyports, a UK-based vertiport infrastructure developer, will collaborate on the provision of parking facilities at “vertiport” sites in Dubai, as well as developing new locations across Parkin’s network […]

PIF Amazon

Saudi Arabia’s PIF slashes stake in Amazon

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has sharply reduced its holdings in Amazon, cutting its stake by nearly 80 percent in the latest quarter. The sovereign wealth fund, which manages more than $700 billion in assets, revealed in its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week that it now holds less than 350,000 shares, […]