French builder launches Belgian Navy's third Castor-class patrol vessel

French shipbuilder Socarenam recently floated out a new patrol vessel ordered by the Belgian Navy.

The future BNS Vega is the third Castor-class patrol vessel to be built by Socarenam for the Belgian Navy. The first two ships, BNS Castor and BNS Pollux, have been in service since 2014 and 2015, respectively, while the newest ship is scheduled to be operational by 2027.

Like her sisters, the future Vega will be deployed on exclusive economic zone patrols, environmental protection, fisheries enforcement, protection of critical infrastructure, counter-smuggling operations, and search and rescue.