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On Tuesday, 10 May, MPs from the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee of the Saeima visited ship-building company AS Rīgas kuģu būvētava and concluded that building of brand-new patrol vessels for the National Armed Forces is a substantial contribution to our national economy. Not only it creates new jobs and income from taxes but also enables the local ship-building company to master unique technologies that can also be used for fulfilling orders from abroad.

“During today’s meeting held in AS Rīgas kuģu būvētava, we acquired detailed data on the progress of building the five new coast guard vessels, as well as observed building of a patrol vessel on site. The impressions are really praiseworthy,” said Ainars Latkovskis, Chairman of the Committee, adding that the large-scale project is highly beneficial from two perspectives.

“First, our armed forces will be supplied with brand-new and state-of-the-art patrol vessels. Second, local ship-building industry creates new jobs and a part of the resources spent on the procurement will return to the budget in the form of taxes. Besides, these are unique twin-hull military vessels of this type, building of which requires introduction of new technologies that could be used in building vessels for foreign armed forces,” said Ainars Latkovskis.

Five brand-new patrol vessels are to be built for the National Armed Forces with total value of LVL 39.2 million; it is one of the largest procurements in the history of the National Armed Forces. The first coast guard vessel Skrunda has been already put into operation.

The 25-metre-long and 13.5-metre-wide patrol vessel has aluminium twin hull. The unique twin-hull structure ensures sea-going capacity even in adverse weather conditions, which means the vessel is fully operational in strong wind and 3.5-metre-high waves.

The five newly built vessels will replace the nine existing patrol vessels of the National Armed Forces. Apart from military operations, they can also be used for search and rescue or oil skimming. Each vessel will be manned by 8 crew members instead of current practice of assigning 20-strong crew.

Photos from the meeting are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/sets/72157626564475451/with/5706052423/
When using the material, please give credit to the Saeima.

 Saeima Press Service