''Iliria''-class patrol vessels is an Albanian Coast Guard class of

patrol vessels A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

, that is based on the

Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel The Dutch shipbuilding firm The Damen Group, designs and manufactures a range of patrol vessels, of various sizes, including the Damen Stan 4207 Patrol Vessels. The Damen Stan patrol vessel designs' names include a four digit code, where the firs ...

design. The first ship of this class ''Iliria'' (P 131), from which the class takes its name, was produced in

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...

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 ...

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 ...

and was commissioned in 2008. The other three vessels were built locally starting from 2009 to 2014 in Albania by the state-owned Pashaliman Shipyard. Over a dozen navies, coast guards and other government agencies operate vessels based on this design. While some of those vessels are equipped for purely civilian patrols, the Albanian ships are armed with a remote-controlled 20mm Nexter M621 NARWHAL cannon.

Design and construction

The class itself was built to the

Damen Stan Patrol 4207 The Netherlands, Dutch shipbuilding firm The Damen Group, designs and manufactures a range of patrol vessels, of various sizes, including the Damen Stan 4207 Patrol Vessels. The Damen Stan patrol vessel designs' names include a four digit code, wh ...

design by the Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands and has a steel hull with an aluminum superstructure. Much effort has been expended in making them quiet to reduce crew fatigue; their engines are raft-mounted, decks throughout the ships are of a floating type, and their compartments are constructed on a box-within-a-box principle. A 7-meter (23 ft)

rigid inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are ...

(RIB) can be launched from the stern slipway. They are fitted with a 2,000-litre (440 imp gal) per minute fire fighting system for dealing with fires in other ships.

Procurement history

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 warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

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

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 based on the design of the

, which the first of them would be built in

and 3 others in the

Pashaliman Orikum or Pashaliman is a town and a former municipality in Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Vlorë. It was named after the ancient city Oricum, which was located 4 ...

Shipyard in Albania. The first patrol vessel, named ''Iliria'', 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'' was commissioned in September 2011, the third ship, ''Lissus'', was operational in 2012 and fourth ''Butrint'' in 2013.

Vessels in class

The first of the class takes its name from

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

. While each of the three patrol vessels build in Pashaliman Shipyard are named after the ancient Illyrian cities.

Service history

The main task for these vessels is to provide maritime security and the implementation of the maritime law in Albania's

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

and Ionian coasts. Secondary tasks are marine

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

, marine pollution control, and fisheries implementation off. The first vessel, ''Iliria'', entered service in 2008 and the last, ''Butrinti'' in 2014. On November 21, 2016, ''Oriku'' became the first ship to represent Albania in an international mission within NATO, participating in mission

SNMG2 Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standing maritime immediate reaction force. SNMG2 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational re ...

in the

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

. On November 22 of the following year, she completed her mission leaving the place to her sister ''Butrinti''. Both ships successfully completed their mission, often helping to save the lives of migrants trying to cross the border by water from Turkey to Greece.

References

{{Iliria-class patrol vessels Patrol boat classes Ships built in Albania