Italy’s Fincantieri and Abu Dhabi-based EDGE Group said on Monday they signed a EUR400m contract with the UAE’s Coast Guard forces, the first from a partnership the companies announced this year.

The shipbuilding joint venture (JV), named Maestral, will supply 10 advanced 51-metre offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) which will be built in shipyards both in Italy and in Abu Dhabi, the combined statement said.

Why it’s important

The order comes just three months after EDGE and Fincantieri launched their partnership.

The Italian group is seeking to increase its focus on defence, a sector that currently accounts for around a quarter of its revenues.

Fincantieri chief executive Pierroberto Folgiero said: “this Joint Venture is an industrial platform of great value, which will allow us not only to seize the opportunities arising in a strategic market such as the UAE, but also to further develop our commercial capabilities”.

Strategic joint venture

The JV, announced in February and in which Edge holds a 51 per cent stake, will be awarded prime rights to non-NATO orders and a number of strategic orders placed by selected NATO member countries, it said.

Shares in Fincantieri were up 3.2 per cent by 1245 GMT.