On March 20, at Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk (Remontowa Holding Group), a keel was laid for the fifth in a series of the 258 Kormoran II project minehunters. The ship will be named ORP Rybitwa. Once she is handed over to the Polish Navy, she will join the 12th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coast Defence Flotilla, stationed in Swinoujscie.
The state authorities, Polish Army officers from the Armament Agency and the Navy, and representatives of the maritime administration and technical universities attended the ceremony.
Jacek Siewiera, the State Secretary and Chief of the National Security Bureau talked about the great role of Remontowa Shipbuilding in developing the Navy’s potential.
– This is an example of mature, structured manufacturing. It is a great pleasure to see a company with a healthy foundation, sound financing, long-term contracts executed on time, and a proper understanding of its mission. For this, Mr CEO, I thank you very sincerely. I also thank the industrial partners, also state-owned, such as PGZ Naval Shipyard, the Research and Development Centre for Marine Technology Centre in Gdynia, and those entities that contribute to this project, said Minister Siewiera.
– These exceptional mine defence ships have proven their merits in the Baltic and the North Sea, operating in permanent mine countermeasures teams and demonstrating their great capabilities. They are very successful ships, which is also emphasised by our NATO allies, – said Rear Admiral Włodzimierz Kulagin, the head of the Armament Branch at the Navy Inspectorate in the Polish Armed Forces General Command.
– The process of building these ships in a well-coordinated team, in well-organised shipbuilding entities and being constructed as a series – not as single units – makes sense. I am deeply convinced that similar processes in the construction of further units for the Polish naval armed forces will be carried out because Poland’s strong position on the Baltic Sea is in the interest of the entire Republic of Poland – emphasised the Chief of the Maritime Technology in the Armament Agency – Navy Captain Piotr Skóra.
– The Navy should have a stable development plan, and for this, it is necessary to create personnel for the entire shipbuilding industry and the supply chain linked to this industry already at the level of vocational schools, secondary schools and, of course, higher education – added Beata Rutkiewicz, Pomeranian Governor.
Aleksander Łęgowski, ship director of the Polish Register of Shipping, confirmed the shipyard’s readiness to continue the production process. A symbolic coin was welded into the keel section of the ship, and a protocol was signed to confirm the keel’s laying.
Photos: Sławomir Lewandowski/PortalMorski.pl