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Cameroon Navy / Marina camerunense - Equipment

As of 2011, Cameroon’s Navy comprised eleven coastal combatant and patrol vessels, and two utility landing craft. The service had modernised and increased its capabilities over the last decade, beginning with the the acquisition of a number of small Rodman patrol craft. Although the Bizerte (P48 large patrol craft) class L'Audacieux is fitted for SS-12M missiles these are not embarked and its operational status is in some doubt, having not been reported at sea since 1995. The Quartier-Maître Alfred Moto patrol boat was listed as out of service in 1991 but has since been reactivated.

Cameroon’s Navy has been expanding. In September 2008 Cameroon’s navy received two 7-meter Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) from the United States, equipped with twin 150 hp engines, a .50 cal gun mount, a GPS receiver, a VHF radio, and a transport trailer. The boats were delivered after two weeks of training between the U.S and Cameroonian armed forces on operation and basic maintenance of the boats. It took delivery in 2012 of three new Boston Whaler patrol boats from the United States as it countered the threat of piracy and lawlessness in its waters.

Two new Spanish patrol boats and a landing craft from Grup Aresa Internacional were also added. The 23 meter Aresa 2300 landing craft and two 24 meter Aresa 2400 CPV Defender patrol boats were commissioned at the Cameroon Navy Base in Douala on 21 November 2013. The Spanish shipbuilding group has worked extensively with Cameroon, supplying a sizeable number of vessels to its Navy, which had 12 Aresa boats in service. This figure includes six Aresa 750 Commandos RIBs - delivered in August 2012 - five 1200 Stealth RIBs and one 1200 Defcon RIB – delivered in May 2013. Two 32 meter patrol boats were delivered in 2014. For the Cameroon Navy, the Spanish shipbuilding group provided two years of technical support, as well as spare and boat refitting services.

The ARESA 2400 CPV Defender is a 24m coastal patrol vessel that can be used for a number of applications such as offshore patrol, border patrol, anti-piracy, anti smuggling, troop transport, and search and rescue missions, amongst others. The 79 tone ARESA 2400 CPV Defender is powered by two diesel engines driving two water jets that reach a maximum speed of 30. The boat has a length of 24.5 meters and a range of 750 nautical miles. Standard equipment on ARESA 2400 CPV Defender includes X-band surveillance/navigation radar and electro-optical sensor system for day and night surveillance, armored optional, Fi-Fi monitor, Auxiliary RIB ARESA 550 Commandos RIB, custom electronics and hard point for multi-weapons mount.

The ARESA 2300 Landing Craft is a cargo, troop and roll-on roll-off transport vessel able to carry 32 people aboard. It is powered by two 450 hp diesel engines, and can reach a speed of 12 knots. This 23.30 meter long vessel has a range of 250 nautical miles at 11 kn and features one hydraulic crane (capable of lifting 10 tons), 12.7 mm gun mounts and optional ballistic protection.

Cameroon’s Navy received two patrol vessels from China. The two vessels, with pennant numbers P108 and P109, were constructed at Qingdao by Poly Technologies, which is a regular supplier of ships to African navies. Cameroon’s minister of defence Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o visited the two vessels in China on 15 April 2014 to inspect progress on their construction. The vessels accommodate 40 people. Armament includes a 76mm PJ26 cannon, based on the AK-176 gun. The vessels were built with funding from the China Exim Bank. A contract for the vessels was signed in October 2013, two years after President Paul Biya visited China.

Few details are known about these ships. Poly Technologies delivered four units of 46.8 meter patrol ships to the Ghana Navy in 2011. Each of those ships cost US$19.5 million. They are armed with twin 14.5mm cannons and tasked with oil facilities and fisheries protection duties. The Ghanaian ships were enlarged and geatly modified variants of the 59-meter Type 062 Shanghai II patrol craft. Given the emplacement of 76mm naval artillery on the Cameroon ships, they were at least as large as the 46.8 meter ships sold to Ghana by Poly Technologies or could be as large as 62 meter platforms. Indeed, commercial satellite imagery from 23 January 2015 showed two 64 m vessels moored in the commercial area of Duala, rather than at the existing naval base, which would struggle to accommodate the new vessels.

Photographs posted on a Facebook page that claims affiliation with Cameroon's Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) shows that the Delta branch of the elite force had been using the accommodation vessel Rio Del Rey (IMO: 9480681) as a floating base for rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIB) and helicopters, thereby extending their operational range. Automatic Identification System (AIS) data showed that the Rio Del Rey, which is owned by the national oil and gas company Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), generally operated off the Bakassi Peninsula, near Cameroon's maritime border with Nigeria.

This list includes all surface combatants, submarines, mine warfare vessels and patrol craft over 100 tons displacement, and all amphibious ships and auxiliaries over 500 tons displacement. Non-self-propelled craft and vessels without seagoing capability are not included.