page_title: Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel
section_title: Planning and construction
hierarchical_section_title: Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel / Planning and construction
caption_attribution_description: LE Samuel Beckett in Drydock
context_page_description: The Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel is a class of offshore patrol vessels ordered by the Irish Naval Service from October 2010. The first vessel is named Samuel Beckett and was commissioned in May 2014. Construction on this first vessel commenced in November 2011, A further three vessels were named James Joyce, William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, and delivered in 2015, 2016 and 2018 respectively.
context_section_description: In 2007 it was reported that the Defence Forces expected to spend in the region of €180m on replacements for the three existing vessels of the Emer class.
  In July 2010 the then Irish Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen, announced that the Department of Defence and Naval Service would be entering into talks with UK shipbuilder Babcock Marine on two vessels worth €50m each, with an option for a third.
  In October 2010 contracts were signed, and the 'cutting of steel' for the first ship occurred on 24 November 2011.
  On 19 May 2012, Irish Naval Service Flag Office Commodore Mark Mellett (subsequently Rear Admiral, DCOS Sp) attended the traditional keel-laying ceremony for the first of the 90 meter OPVs. While modular construction methods don't strictly involve keel-laying, the term is still considered an important milestone, as it signals the first stage of connecting each of the components together. The keel-laying ceremony took place in Babcock Marine's Appledore Shipbuilding Yard in Devon, UK.
  The delivery of the first of the vessels was set for 2014 with the second in 2015. The fit-out of crew quarters and facilities on the first two 55-berth ships was contracted to Moss Marine of Southampton in a £4.5 million contract. Fitting out of the first ship began in March 2012 for completion in early 2014.
  The option on the third vessel was exercised following the commissioning of Samuel Beckett, and delivered in 2016. Payment for the ships was planned to be extended over a number of years to 2017. The cost of the first three ships, including the main armament, was €213 million. While not overtly proposed under the original contract, the Irish government placed an order for a fourth vessel in June 2016, in a contract worth €67 million.
caption: Samuel Beckett under construction
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