The keel-laying ceremony was held at the Baltic Operator shipyard in Gdansk. Representatives from the Border Guard, Meyer Turku Oy, Baltic Operator, and Bureau Veritas were present.
The keel-laying ceremony is an old and traditional tradition. Before the keel laying, representatives from the ship’s ordering and supplying parties, as well as the classification society, placed their own lucky coins under the first block on the keel block. The coins are later transferred to the completed ship to bring the vessel luck, as per its name. The tradition dates back to the sailing ship era, when a coin was placed under the mainmast to bring the ship good sailing fortune.
“The offshore patrol vessels are being built at the facilities of our long-term partner shipyards under Meyer Turku’s project management and according to our quality requirements. Our joint, very topical project has progressed to a stage where we are already celebrating the keel laying of the second vessel,” says Meyer Turku’s CEO Casimir Lindholm.
“Once completed, the new offshore patrol vessels will significantly improve Finland’s border security and maritime security in a security environment that is demanding and difficult to predict,” states the Border Guard’s Project Manager, Major General Jari Tolppanen.
The performance of the Border Guard vessels currently under construction will improve significantly compared to the vessels being decommissioned. The ships’ surveillance and response capability in border surveillance and the related tasks of monitoring and securing territorial integrity will be improved. Advanced surveillance systems and data transfer solutions will enhance the maintenance of the situational picture and its sharing.
The new vessels will also improve the capacity for responding to major disasters and rescue work. The preparedness for managing serious environmental accidents is immediate on all vessels, and the total oil recovery capacity will approximately double from the current level. The new ships will be low-emission and energy-efficient.
