On 11 December 2025, Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdańsk held a ceremony to christen and launch the sixth in a series of Kormoran II-class minehunters, the ORP Czajka.
The government was represented at the ceremony by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
– The Czajka ship will serve Poland. It is a mine countermeasure vessel destined for the 8th Flotilla, the third in this series. The Kormoran-class ships serve the Navy well. ORP Albatros recently returned from joint exercises with Finland and performed very well there. This is about acquiring new capabilities – frigates, rescue ships, radio-electronic reconnaissance ships and minehunters, such as the Czajka ship,” said the head of the Ministry of National Defence.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
He reminded everyone of the contemporary threats and challenges facing the Polish Navy in the Baltic Sea.
– In a changing reality, following Finland and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance, the Baltic Sea has become an area of security development on the one hand, and hybrid aggression on the other. Cutting cables on the Baltic seabed, a ‘scrap fleet’ floating and destroying not only the environment but also threatening security, jamming GPS signals, sending drones – all this is taking place in the Baltic Sea area. We have responded to this as allies by establishing Operation Baltic Sentry, a Baltic watch that protects our area of operations and activities, our exclusive economic zone, and trade and transport routes.
Remontowa Holding CEO Adam Ruszkowski recalled that Remontowa Shipbuilding, continuing the tradition of Stocznia Północna, has returned to its role as a proven supplier to the Polish Navy.
– Exactly 10 years ago, we launched a prototype that marked the beginning of a much-needed and, as sailors say, very good series of mine sweepers. The first three ships, ORP Kormoran, ORP Albatros and ORP Mewa, are already serving our navy at sea. They thus became the first ships built from scratch in Poland in nearly 30 years (…). As Remontowa Shipbuilding, we have delivered nine new ships to the Polish Navy over the past five years, since 2017, including three mine countermeasure vessels and six multi-purpose vessels as part of the ‘Holownik’ programme. At the same time, we have launched 12 ships over the past 10 years.
Adam Ruszkowski, President of Remontowa Holding
We currently have five ships in production, which will be delivered to the navy once they are equipped and tested over the next two years. In total, from 2017 (the date of delivery of the first Kormoran) to 2027 (the date of delivery of the last of the currently ordered reconnaissance vessels), Remontowa Shipbuilding will equip the navy with 14 vessels across three classes: combat, auxiliary, and reconnaissance.
Katarzyna Sikora, wife of the commander of the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla, became the ship’s godmother. In accordance with military ceremony, after symbolically breaking a bottle of champagne against the hull, she named the vessel Czajka.
This is the sixth Kormoran II-class vessel built in Gdańsk by a consortium consisting of Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. (leader), the Research and Development Centre (Centrum Techniki Morskiej) in Gdynia and PGZ Naval Shipyard.
Currently, the shipyard is building three additional mine countermeasure vessels in cooperation with consortium partners: ORP Rybitwa (604 – launched in March this year), ORP Jaskółka (605 – launched in June this year), and the future ORP Czajka (606). According to plans, ships 604-606 will be commissioned in 2026-2027.
Photos: Sławomir Lewandowski / PortalMorski.pl