The Albanian Coast Guard ( sq, Roja Bregdetare) is the maritime

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

force of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. It is a paramilitary force which is under the authority of the Ministry of Defence and its operational duties in

peacetime Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

are organized and commanded by the Inter-Institutional Operational Maritime Center (QNOD). The Coast Guard has the responsibility for the security of Albanian

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...

, maritime surveillance and law enforcement, as well as search and rescue. In operational combat situations in peacetime or wartime, the direction and command of the Albanian Coast Guard passes to military authorities and

Albanian Naval Force The Albanian Naval Force ( sq, Forca Detare të Republikës së Shqipërisë) is the naval branch of the Albanian military. Their name was changed from the Albanian Naval Defense Forces in 2010. The Naval Force is headquartered in Durrës, and o ...

. Since November 21, 2016, Albanian Coast Guard joined the SNMG2 in

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

, as NATO member state.

History

The Albanian Coast Guard was established in 2002, following the ratification by the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of the relevant law ''No. 8875, dated 4 April 2002 "on Coast Guard"''. The Coast Guard was equipped with 6 patrol vessels 200 Class Super Speranza, donated by Italian Coast Guard, which joined the three Seaspectre Mk III and the two 45' PCC Class, donated by

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

in 1999–2001. In August of the same year, 14 vessels of the Navy and the Coast Guard participated in the extensive trafficking operation "Puma", in cooperation with the law enforcement agencies, anti-smuggling, fisheries, etc., which successfully made possible the blocking of the maritime traffic between

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In 2004, the Coast Guard receives as a donation 6 other patrol vessels, also from the Italian Coast Guard. This time they were 2000 Class patrol vessel.

Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessels

Even prior to the country's

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

accession, Albania was committed to the modernization of Navy fleets, both

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and Coast Guard, since the old fleet was almost all out of service. In 2007, was signed a contracts with the

Damen Group The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company. Dame ...

for the completing of the Coast Guard with Patrol vessels to be used to perform a number of tasks and duties, including coastal patrols, search and rescue, control and monitoring of maritime traffic, marine environment protection. The contract envisaged the construction of 4 vessels of the Damen Stan 4207 class, which the first of them would be built in

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and 3 others in the Pasha Liman naval base in Albania. The first patrol vessel, named Iliria P-131, was built and delivered to the Albanian Coast Guard in August 2008. Enabling thus the following construction of 3 other patrol vessels in Pasha Liman Base by Albanian carpenters assisted by the experts of Damen Group. The second patrol vessel Oriku P-132 will be commissioned in September 2011, the third ship, Lisus P-133, will be operational in 2012 and fourth Butrint P-134 in 2013.

Missions

The missions of the Albanian Coast Guard include: * Search and rescue *

Maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prin ...

* Protection of marine resources *

Safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

* Fisheries

protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

and

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

References

External links

Albanian Armed Forces – Official website

Ministry of Defence – Official website
{{Coast guards Military of Albania

History

Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessels

Missions

See also

References

External links