''Iliria'' is an ''Iliria''-class

patrol vessel 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 the ...

of the Albanian Coast Guard, built in

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The municipality of Gorinchem al ...

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 ...

. The class takes the name of the ship itself as it is its first. While the name itself is based on

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 ...

, an ancient region where today's Albania is part. The ship was commissioned and entered in service in 2008.

First of class

In 2007, Damen Shipyard in

was awarded a 31 million euros contract to build four patrol vessels. Most of the funding would be provided by the Albanian government through the Ministry of Defense and 35% of it would be supported through a grant from the Dutch Government. The Iliria-class design is based on Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel. The first ship Iliria bears the name of the class itself as it is its first and is the only one built in the Netherlands, while the other three were built locally in Pashaliman Shipyard with the assistance of the company itself. The ship was delivered to Albania in August 2008 with a ceremony held in the port of Durres and entered service a few weeks later on September 5 of the same year.

Construction and capabilities

Iliria is the first of the patrol vessels with its 42.8 meters long overall and a 7.11 beam, part of the fleet of the Albanian Coast Guard. It was built in 2008 at Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands unlike its three sister boats of the same class that were built locally under license in Pashaliman Shipyard, near

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foo ...

. She has a steel hull with an aluminum superstructure with a and a . She is equipped with a

stern launching ramp Some modern patrol vessels are equipped with a stern launching ramp, for deploying smaller rescue or pursuit boats without requiring the parent ship to first come to a halt. Typically the smaller craft are powered by water-jets, and can dri ...

, capable of deploying and retrieving a 7-meter Rigid Inflatable Boat, for rescue or pursuit. Built to withstand missions from 7 to 14 days at a range of 1800

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...

s at 12 knots and it is suitable for Albania given its 225-mile coastline and its Coast Guard mission. It can reach a standard speed of 12

knot (unit) The knot () is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, exactly (approximately or ). The ISO standard symbol for the knot is kn. The same symbol is preferred by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), while kt ...

s which in some cases can go up to 26 knots making it suitable for the pursuit of other watercraft in case of need.

Propulsion

The ship is propelled by two controllable pitch propellers driven by two Caterpillar 3516B TA-HD

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s rated at which are geared by two Reintjes WLS 930. The patrol vessel is also equipped with two Caterpillar C4.4 generators. The vessel has a maximum speed of . Iliria has a fuel capacity of giving the vessel a range of at and an endurance of up to 150 hours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iliria Iliria-class patrol vessels 2007 ships Ships built in Vlissingen

First of class

Construction and capabilities

Propulsion

See also

References