Navy produces new military coast guard ship

Pasha Liman, Vlore, Sep. 13 – Oriku is the name of the new coast guard ship built by the Pasha Liman military naval base factory. It was launched this Tuesday. The ship is the second produced there, based on a 31 million Euro project funded 65 percent from Tirana and 35 percent from the Netherlands. Albanian authorities are also assisted by the Dutch company “DAMEN Shipyards”. Albania has been renovating its entire army arsenal for some years. That is one of the conditions given to the country since before it became a NATO member in 2009. Defense Minister Arben Imami said that Albania funds about 20 million Euros each year for the modernization of the army. Eliminating excess ammunition remains one of the top priorities for the army. Based on the Stan Patrol 4207 project Albania will be equipped with four such ships, 41 meters long, 7.11 meters wide and two engines of 5,700 horsepower that reach a speed of 26 knots. The project is expected to continue until 2013. The first ship named Iliria was built in Holland and handed over to the Albanian marines in 2008.