Damen Shipyards Antalya has won a contract to build a further 13 search and rescue (SAR) boats for the Turkish Coast Guard (TURCG).
The new boats will be provided to TURCG under a deal struck with the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and funded by the European Union (EU).
The boats will be Damen’s SAR 1906 design. The aluminium-hulled vessels are 19.5 metres long, capable of 30 knots, have a crew of six, and can accommodate 42 survivors at a time. They are self-righting and have a range of up to 330 nautical miles at top speed.
The Dutch firm has already supplied 15 SAR 1906 vessels to Turkiye under previous iterations of the same programme; the first six were delivered in 2016 and a further nine in 2019. The 13 new boats will be delivered in 2027 and 2028, as per a Damen press statement.
Its Regional Sales Director Emre Turkoz commented: “On behalf of Damen, I am very grateful once again for the trust placed in our organisation for the construction of these latest SAR vessels.
“I am looking forward to continuing to develop the strong partnership between ourselves, the IOM, the Turkish Coast Guard and the European Union over the coming years as we work together on delivering these vessels.”
- You can read more details on the Damen website