On 19.01.2023, in the Port of Constanța, in the presence of the inspector general of the Romanian Border Police, Mr. Victor-Stefan IVASCU, the police chief, the ceremony of entry into service and awarding of the flag for two maritime patrol vessels (FCS project) took place 4008 PATROL).
The project was started in March 2021, when the General Inspectorate of the Border Police signed the commercial contract for the purchase of two maritime patrol vessels - Damen FCS 4008 PATROL with Damen Shipyards Gorinchem B.V. Netherlands. The contract took place within the ROFSIB2018OS2ASP02 project - Purchase of naval mobility means needed by Frontex, the procurement contract award procedure being the open public tender.
The value of the contract was 154,633,657 lei (26 million euros), a project developed from non-reimbursable European funds, through the Internal Security Fund, with the ships becoming part of the PFR at the end of 2022.
The acquisition of maritime patrol vessels and intervention sloops gives the Romanian Border Police an increase in its operational intervention capacity, for carrying out specific missions to ensure the respect of the rights of the Romanian state in the maritime waters in the area of competence, the supervision and control of the maritime border, the prevention and combating illegal migration and specific acts of cross-border crime, searching for vessels in danger and rescuing their crews.
Also, in the context of the management of the migration phenomenon at the external borders of the EU, the purchase of new means of naval mobility is opportune to fulfill the commitments assumed by the Romanian Border Police towards the Frontex Agency, regarding the deployment of technical equipment in joint operations carried out at the border external maritime of the EU.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Romanian Border Police manages 2,070 km of the external border of the European Union, of which 243.5 km are at the Black Sea. With the ships equipped, an effective surveillance device will be provided, the continuity of which ensures permanent coverage of a maritime space of approximately 30,000 km2 (inland maritime waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone and exclusive economic area).
Main technical-tactical features - Damen FCS 4008 PATROL:
- the execution of operative missions with a minimum duration of 3 days, the ship being operational at a sea level of Douglas 5 (waves with a height of 4 meters);
- the ability to transmit data and information to the command and control center in real time;
- crew: 23 people;
- maximum capacity of survivors (on the aft deck): 80 people;
- maximum speed: 30 knots;
- total length: 42.95 m;
- total width: 8.65 m;
- maximum draft: 3.05 m;
- autonomy of at least 600 nautical miles;
- gross tonnage: 300 tons.
