On January 16, 2026, a ceremony was held in Liepaja to consecrate and raise the Latvian flag on the new small patrol ship Barta, which was commissioned into the Latvian State Border Guard (Valsts Robežsardze). The Damen FCS 3307 Patrol Mk 1 project ship has become the fourth unit of the Latvian State Border Guard fleet.
The new small patrol ship Barta of the Damen project FCS 3307 Patrol Mk 1 of the State Border Guard of Latvia (c) The State Border Guard of Latvia
The ship was originally built by the Damen Shipyards Group, an international shipbuilding group (with headquarters in the Netherlands), based on the Damen FCS 3307 Patrol project, which is a patrol variant of the Damen FCS 3307 small offshore oil and gas supply ship popular on the global market. The ship was built under the name Defender IX at the Damen Shipyard Singapore in Singapore as one of 10 patrol ships of the FCS 3307 Patrol project commissioned by the Nigerian company Strickland Services Limited, which uses them to protect offshore oil and gas fields off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea. In February 2016, Defender IX was renamed Osamede. In July 2022, the ship was sold back to the Damen Group and delivered from Nigeria to Cape Town (South Africa), where it underwent major repairs at Damen Shipyards Cape Town by April 2024, after which it was put up for sale.
The Osamede ship was eventually acquired for the Latvian State Border Guard, which on October 7, 2024, signed a contract worth 6.28745 million euros with the Estonian shipbuilding company AS Baltic Workboats (Saaremaa) for the supply of this patrol ship. with its repair and modernization to meet Latvian requirements. The total cost of the project for the acquisition of this ship for Latvia amounted to 6.36037 million euros, of which 4,770,277 million euros were covered by financing under the European Union's Border management and Visa Policy Financial Support program for 2021-2027.
In November-December 2024, the Osamede ship was delivered by a transport vessel from Cape Town to the Baltic Workboats shipyard in Saaremaa, where it underwent the necessary work. On December 19, 2025, upon completion of the work, the ship, already under the Latvian name Barta (after the river), moved to Liepaja and is now commissioned, becoming the most modern and fastest unit of the Latvian State Border Guard fleet.
The Damen FCS 3307 project ship has a length of 34.2 meters, a width of 7.3 meters, a maximum depth of 3.3 meters and a gross tonnage of 168 tons. The hull and superstructure are completely made of aluminum alloys, the hull has Damen-branded contours of the bow with a vertical stem, called the Sea Axe ("axe-shaped nose"). The ship is equipped with three twelve-cylinder Caterpillar C32 ACERT main diesel engines with 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) each, which drive three fixed-pitch propellers through three Reintjes WVS 730/1 gearboxes, providing a maximum travel speed of 29-30 knots. The total fuel reserve is 60.3 m3. The cruising range is up to 1,700 miles at full speed. The auxiliary equipment of the FCS 3307 includes two Caterpillar C4.4T diesel generators with a capacity of 59 kW each. To increase maneuverability, the FCS 3307 is equipped with a 75 kW forward transverse thruster.
In the patrol version of the FCS 3307 Patrol, a semi-civilian motor boat is located on the aft deck. The superstructure and bridge are equipped with built-in armor, and the glass is bulletproof. There is no standard armament on the ship, but there is an armored turret mount for a 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine gun on the tank. The patrol version has a crew of 14 people.
The new small patrol ship Barta of the Damen FCS 3307 Patrol Mk 1 project of the State Border Guard of Latvia before commissioning. Liepaja, 12/21/2025 (c) Brunis Filipenoks / www.marinetraffic.com
The ceremony of commissioning the fleet of the State Border Guard of Latvia of the new small patrol ship Barta of the Damen FCS 3307 Patrol Mk 1 project. Liepaja, 01/16/2026 (c) The State Border Guard of Latvia and @LiepajaSEZ
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