On October 12, 2023, in Westerplatte in Gdynia, the official ceremony of the baptism and commissioning into the fleet of the Naval Unit of the Polish Border Guard (Morski Oddział Straży Granicznej) of the new border patrol ship SG-301 Generał Józef Haller took place. The ship was built according to the OPV 70 project of the French shipbuilding company Socarenam and became the largest unit of the Polish border fleet.
The new border patrol ship of the Marine Unit of the Polish Border Guard SG-301 Generał Józef Haller of the OPV 70 project of the French shipbuilding company Socarenam. Gdynia, 12.10.2023 (c) Przemysław Gurgurewicz / MILMAG
The contract for the construction of the Maritime part of the Polish Border Guard Patrol ship was concluded based on the results of a tender by Socarenam on October 5, 2020 in the amount of 111.436 million zlotys (about 25 million euros). The financing of the contract was 90 percent covered by the EU Internal Security Fund. The OPV 70 project of the ship was jointly developed by Socarenam with the French design bureau MAURIC.
The actual construction of the ship's hull was subcontracted by the Polish NavireTech shipyard in Gdansk, where the laying was made on June 25, 2021, and the launching was carried out on June 29, 2022. After that, in July, the hull of the ship was towed to the Socarenam shipyard in Calais in France, where it was completed, manned and tested. The contract deadline for the ship's delivery was November 10, 2022, but in the end it took place about 10 months late, the reasons for which are called, as usual, the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine (?), and the real reason, apparently, was the delay in the construction of the hull by the Polish subcontractor.
The ship arrived in Poland in Gdansk on September 5, 2023, but its acceptance by the Polish side was delayed due to disagreements between the parties regarding the elimination of identified defects and additional work, as a result of which the parties decided to go to court on the issue of payment by the Polish customer to the company of an additional 1 million euros. The acceptance certificate was signed on September 22, 2023, and now the Polish flag has been raised on the SG-301 Generał Józef Haller.
The ship has a length of 70 m, a width of 11 m and a draft of 3 m. The hull of the ship is steel, with ice reinforcements, the superstructure is made of AMG. The electric power plant includes two diesel generators and two screw-steering columns with electric motors. Full speed 19 knots, cruising range 2600 miles at a speed of 12 knots. The crew of the ship is 20 people with the possibility of accommodating 15 more, autonomy with 35 people on board is designed for 12 days. The ship does not carry standard weapons, has two water-jet barrels, two quick-release semi-rigid motor boats, and at the stern there are places to accommodate two 20-foot containers with a possible target load and a 13-ton crane.
The new border patrol ship of the Marine Unit of the Polish Border Guard SG-301 Generał Józef Haller of the OPV 70 project of the French shipbuilding company Socarenam. Gdynia, 12.10.2023 (c) Przemysław Gurgurewicz / MILMAG
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