On Wednesday, 27th December 2017, two contracts for the construction of new ships for Polish Navy were signed at the Ministry of National Defense. In accordance to the terms of the agreements, the prototype of RATOWNIK (Lifeguard) type vessel will enter into the service (with possibility of obtaining another one of this type) and also two more Kormoran type minehunters will be produced. The value of signed contracts is almost PLN 2 billion.
The order for the construction works of RATOWNIK type ships will be carried out by a consortium of companies from Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) i.e.: PGZ S.A., Stocznia Remontowa NAUTA S.A., PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. z o.o. and Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Centrum Techniki Morskiej S.A. (CTM). The estimated value of this order may reach PLN 1,5 billion. The contract for building of two more KORMORAN type mine hunters was signed by the Armament Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defense and a Consortium comprising Remontowa Shipbuilding (Leader) and PGZ’s companies from Gdynia i.e. CTM and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna. Both contracts were signed in the presence of the secretary of state at the Ministry of National Defense, Bartosz Kownacki. Consortium composed of PGZ S.A., Stocznia Remontowa NAUTA S.A., PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Sp. z o.o. and CTM was established for common participation in RATOWNIK program procedure. It required to place an offer for delivery of two rescue ships, including one within option. The estimated value of single unit is about PLN 800 million. The period needed to build the ship from the moment of signing the contract is expected to last for nearly five years. The concept of the ship and its project is prepared by MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting Sp. z o.o., the Polish design office. The rescue vessels are the auxiliary units designed to cover Polish Navy rescue tasks – saving lives of crew of damaged submarines, hauling out submerged military technology, extinguishing fires of vessels and performing deactivation and disinfection operations in case of use of mass destruction weapon. To perform the above mentioned tasks, the ships will be equipped with equipment for saturation diving and medical decompression of rescued crew, unmanned underwater vehicles, extinguishing systems, deactivation and disinfection systems and medical complex. There will also be a helipad on the ship. The contract for delivery of two more KORMORAN type minehunters is a result of a framework agreement signed on September 23rd, 2013. In accordance to its terms, after positive completion of qualification tests of the first ship, another contract for two more ships was to be signed. The first ship ORP “KORMORAN” was incorporated into the Polish Navy on November 28th, 2017. A consortium core responsible for the construction works were Stocznia Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. and CTM. The mentioned shipyard was responsible for delivery of the platform, equipment, installations and ship’s general systems, including navigation and communication. But CTM was an integrator of the Integrated Mission System, and also produced and delivered to the ship the Integrated Combat System, including: Combat Management System, Passive Defense System, Underwater Monitoring System, including sonars (SHL-101/TM, SHL-300), as well as explosive charges to countermeasure sea mines “Toczek. – The combat value of a modern ship is defined by the systems it’s equipped with. The delivery for the first “Kormoran”, developed by CTM Combat Management System SCOT confirmed, that we have all the necessary competencies in that field, in our country. Now, after signing the contract for two more ships, we are satisfied that our system has become an output platform for a series of ships – said Andrzej Kilian Ph.D., President of the Board at OBR CTM S.A.