With LNG fuel, the UVL10 will meet 2016 emissions requirements for Baltic waters.
The dual-fuel Offshore Patrol Vessel UVL10, currently being built for the Finnish Border Guard at STX Finland Oy’s Rauma shipyard, was named Turva at a festive naming and launching ceremony on Friday 2 August. Minister of the Interior Päivi Räsänen acted as godmother for the ship, wishing the vessel and its crew luck and success in their future maritime operations.
In her speech as the ship’s godmother, Minister Räsänen stated that taking delivery of the ship is an important part of the preparation for the risks of increasing maritime transport and prevention of environmental damage, written down in the Government Programme.
The technically advanced, 96 metres long and 17 metres wide vessel, scheduled for delivery at the end of year 2013, will be stationed on the Gulf of Finland, where it will sail year round, over 300 days a year.
The LNG-fuelled vessel is designed to operate under extreme conditions.
The offshore patrol vessel will be used for the purposes of frontier supervision, maritime search and rescue (SAR), environmental protection, monitoring of natural resources, oil spill response on the open sea and cooperation with other authorities. The vessel can provide support for the operations of auxiliary ships and helicopters. The ship will be used under any weather and visibility conditions on the Baltic Sea and it is capable of independent long-term operation at extended ranges.
In the design of the vessel, special attention has been paid to environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions. The ship uses liquefied natural gas (LNG) with low emission levels and diesel oil as fuels, which keeps the ship’s own emissions small.
“The launching and naming ceremonies are unique events in the ship’s building process. They always make us proud – particularly so in case of this technically advanced and environmentally friendly vessel designed for border control duties. From this moment forward, the shipbuilding process will remain intensive until the moment the vessel is handed over to the client at the end of 2013,” says Jari Anttila, EVP & COO of STX Finland and Director of the Rauma shipyard.
(Source: Finnish Border Guard)
