Construction of the multifunctional spill response vessel may begin

Today, on April 15th, the Ministry of the Interior and the Police and Border Guard Board signed a contract with the Finnish shipyard Uudenkaupungin Työvene OY for the construction of a multifunctional spill response vessel financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Pursuant to the contract, Uudenkaupungin Työvene OY will deliver the multifunctional spill response vessel to the Police and Border Guard Board in the fall of 2012.

“In addition to the multi-functionality of the ship, another positive fact is that 25% of the subcontracting work for this large, 420-million EEK shipbuilding project will be done by Estonians,” Marko Pomerants, the Minister of the Interior said.
Uudenkaupungin Työvene OY is an experienced producer of oil spill prevention and patrol ships for all of Europe. The shipyard has built and renovated many border guard ships for Finland and other countries.

According to the project, the ship will be almost 63.6 meters long and 10.2 meters wide with a draft of 4.6 meters.

“Although the document signed today is our two-hundredth new shipbuilding contract, the multifunctional spill response vessel to be built for Estonia is the largest and most powerful, as well as the most modern,” said Harri Putro, the representative of the Uudenkaupungin Työvene OY.

The ship is a diesel-electrical vehicle, with extremely good manoeuvring and ice-breaking capabilities, as well as the ability to travel in ice conditions.

“The new ship will allow rescue and pollution control jobs to be carried out in very difficult weather conditions. The ship is also able operate in the Gulf of Finland in very complicated ice conditions,” Raivo Küüt, the Director General of the Police and Border Guard Border said, commenting on the capabilities of the new ship.

Based on international requirements, the new ship will be constructed and regulated according to the rules of the Lloyds Register, a recognized classification society.

In addition to the Border Guard Board and the Ministry of the Interior, the following participated in compiling the technical specification for the multifunctional spill response vessel: the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication, the Estonian Maritime Academy, Maritime Administration, AS Eesti Loots and many others. Many recognised foreign experts were also involved in the work.

The prepared specifications were assessed by the technical section of the Swedish Coast Guard and the final documents were also reviewed by the Det Norske Veritas classification society.

The new multifunctional spill response vessel will execute constant prevention and monitoring work, which also allows intentional pollution to be prevented. The ship shall be located primarily in the places where pollution accidents with the most serious consequences are likely to occur, which, in Estonia’s area of responsibility, are the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea.

The new multifunctional spill response vessel is able to arrive at the scene of the accident within six hours and enables work to start within 12 hours of the time the accident occurs. In addition, the ship conforms to HELCOM requirements related to collection capabilities and thereby reduces the risk of pollution reaching the shore.

The ship that is necessary for increasing Estonia’s marine pollution prevention capabilities will be acquired with the help of a 440-million EEK grant from the ERDF. In addition, the state will contribute 77.6 million EEK of self-financing.
The acquisition of the multifunctional spill response vessel is being supported by the European Regional Development Fund.