Damen Stan patrol vessel



The Dutch shipbuilding firm The Damen Group, designs and manufactures a wide variety of vessels, including a range of related patrol vessels known generally as the Damen Stan Patrol Vessels.

The Damen Stan patrol vessel designs' names include a four digit code, where the first two digits are the vessel's length, in metres, and the second two digits are its width. Over a dozen nations have classes of vessels based on the Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel design, which are 42 m long and 7 m wide. The United States Coast Guard's Sentinel class cutters, based on the Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel design, are 47 m long and 8 m wide.

In the late 1990s three 41 patrol vessels were built for service in the Dutch Antilles, and experience with those vessels informed the later designs of the 4207 and 4708.

Rather than design vessels that were strictly for naval use, the underlying Damen Stan patrol vessel designs do not include weapons, or a sensor suite. The designs have been adapted for constabulary duties, and for fishery and environmental patrols. According to Sanjay Badri-Maharaj, of the -Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, described how adding an autocannon and military class sensor suite to the USCG's Sentinel class boosted its cost per vessel from $20 million USD to $65 million.

In recent years Damen has developed Damen Stan patrol vessels based on their Sea Axe bow design. The Stan 4207 design are 42.8 m patrol vessels. They are 7.1 m wide, and can travel at 22 knots. They are designed to carry a complement of approximately a dozen. The Stan 4708 are 46.8 m long, 8.11 m wide, have a maximum speed of 23.8 knots, and carry a crew of 16-24.

Vessels
Vessels of this type have been supplied to, or ordered by a number of countries. As of December 2011 thirty five vessels had been built. Many of the agencies that employ these vessels have them delivered without armament, or solely with small arms. They are equipped with water cannon. Many of the agencies that employ these vessels specified they should be equipped with stern launching ramp, capable of launching and retrieving a 7.9 m pursuit craft (RHIB) while underway. The vessels are equipped with a horizontal thruster in their bows, to aid maneuvering in tight conditions, such as mooring in crowded anchorages. The ship are well known for their sea handling capabilities and comfort. Many are powered by Caterpillar engines.