An Estonian company is to design and build an advanced multifunction patrol vessel, intended for protecting the country’s maritime environment.
The project was commissioned by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board and the cost of the vessel, to be built by Baltic Workboats, is €16 million.
The multifunctional boat will be operated also by the Police and Border Guard Board. It will be designed primarily to combat pollution, as well as provide offshore patrol, search and rescue, firefighting and hydrographic tasks, the company said in a statement.
“I am glad that it was [an] Estonian shipbuilder who won the tender,” the country’s interior minister, Hanno Pevkur, said. “It obviously demonstrates the high standards of Estonian shipbuilding.”
The vessel will be between 42 and 45 metres (138-148 feet) in length, depending on the final design. It will be equipped with cutting-edge new technology, such as a 9.2 GHz radar that can detect marine pollution, even from afar in rough seas, as well as locate a person floating on the surface of the water from five nautical miles away.
The vessel will also have side-scan sonar to monitor water quality below the surface and scan the seabed, which will enable it to observe pipelines and detect pollution from shipwrecks.
The vessel can respond fast in an emergency due to her twin MTU 16V4000 marine engines, which can propel it to 25 knots, while economic cruising speed is designed to be between 10 and 16 knots with a minimum range of 2,500 nautical miles.
I
Cover: the proposed boat (courtesy of Baltic Workboats).
