France orders additional offshore support vessels

Kership, a joint Piriou-DCNS shipbuilding company in France, is to build two additional offshore support and rescue vessels for the French navy.

The vessels -- Bâtiments de soutien et d'assistance hauturiers, or BSAH -- are to be delivered in 2019 under the contract from the French military procurement agency, DGA.

BSAH vessels are about 229.6 feet long and displace 2,665 tonnes fully loaded. Their speed is 14 knots.

The order of the two vessels follows an order for the first two BSAH vessels. These boats will be delivered in 2018.

The BSAH vessels will be home-ported to naval bases in Brest and Toulon.