RIASSUNTO
A revival of piracy activities and an increase in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the Gulf of Guinea forced governments to take actions against those illicit maritime activities. A new vessel type was selected to help in fighting these threats. The rapid patrol boat RPB33 is designed with a planing hull form to operate in a range of speed to length ratio not exceeding 3. The main objective of this research is to estimate its calm water powering performance through semiempirical methods. A comparison of resistance to speed curve with a round bilge semi-displacement hull will feed the discussion on the adequacy of the hull form to reduce drag and fuel consumption and help to advocate for an increase in the speed range. Although subject to experimental verification, the results show that the high-speed round bilge displacement hull is adequate for fighting illegal marine activities in the Gulf of Guinea.