Royal Navy of Oman The Royal Navy of Oman ( Arabic : البحرية الملكية من عمان ) , abbreviated RON , is the maritime component of the Royal Armed Forces of the Sultanate of Oman . Given it ' s long coastline and strategic location along the Indian Ocean , as well as being close to the Strait of Hormuz , the Royal Navy is one of the priorities of the government of Oman . It has a fleet of fleet of gunboats , fast missile boats and support , training , cargo and hydro - graphical survey vessels , which can be deployed to defend the territorial waters and coastline of Oman as well as protect tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz . The Royal Navy ' s headquarters are in As Sib , several miles west of Muscat , the capitol . A modernization program is ongoing , with the objective of creating a first rate fleet . History . In 1992 , the Royal Oman Navy had a strength of 3 , 000 personnel . The main naval base , near As Sib , was the Said ibn Sultan Naval Base , located in Wudham Alwa ( near As Sib ) . One of the largest engineering projects in Oman , it serves as a homeport for the fleet and includes training facilities as well as repair bays . The Oman Naval Training Center , located at the base , provided instruction for officers and enlisted personnel , as well as specific branch training . Originally , most of the officer s were British , with non - commissioned officer s being mostly Pakistani . However , by 1980 , most of the officers were Omani , though British and Pakistani technicians remained . The Royal Oman Navy does not have a marine corps or any naval infantry formations , though has multiple amphibious ships . A modernization program is ongoing in order to protect the coastline as well as the strategically important Strait of Hormuz . The British Royal Navy , in 2011 , helped train corvette crews in the Flag Officer Sea Training . The Future . Procurement . New Corvettes . The Royal Navy of Oman ( RNO ) has contracted BAE Systems Surface Ships , in the United Kingdom to construct three Offshore patrol vessels . The OPVs are to be known as the Khareef Class Corvettes and are under trials for delivery in 2012 . They will feature a 12 - cell VL Mica launcher , MM40 Exocet Block 3 SSMs , an Oto Melara 76 / 62 Super Rapid gun , 2 MSI DS 30M 30 mm guns and MASS decoy system . The first vessel - " Al - Shamikh " - underwent sea trials in 2010 . New Research Vessel . The Royal Navy of Oman ( RNO ) has contracted with the US Pentagon through a Foreign Military Sales ( FMS ) program to provide a new research vessel based on the RV F . G . Walton Smith , a University of Miami vessel . Thoma - Sea Shipbuilders of Lockport , Louisiana reportedly won a $ 7 . 3m contract to build a Catamaran Hull Hydrographic Survey Vessel for the government of Oman , according to a report . This vessel will be built by Thoma - Sea . Thoma - Sea ’ s partner in this proposal is Technology Associates Inc . ( TAI ) of New Orleans in Louisiana . TAI prepared the proposal for Thoma - Sea and will be in charge of performing the Design , Program Management and Integrated Logistics Support ( ILS ) functions for Thoma - Sea . The Sultanate of Oman will receive this 90 - foot vessel , which is designed to conduct hydrographic and environmental surveys of harbors and bays , and will work in Oman ’ s territorial waters , according to the release . Oman has also issued RFI for a new ‘ hydrographic survey vessel ’ . US Naval Sea Systems Command is promoting ship design based on the Walton Smith Catamaran design . Al - Ofouq Class Patrol Vessels . Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd ( ST Engineering ) announced that its marine arm , Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd ( ST Marine ) had secured a contract worth €534 . 8m ( about S $ 880m ) to design and build four patrol vessels ( PVs ) and the provision of associated logistic support for the Royal Navy of Oman . This contract was awarded by the Ministry of Defence of the Sultanate of Oman through a competitive international tender . ST Marine will build four 75 - metre PVs based on its proprietary Fearless class patrol vessel . The project will commence immediately with the first vessel expected to be delivered in 2Q 2015 and the final vessel in 3Q 2016 .