On Wednesday, 27 December 2017, two contracts for the construction of new ships for the Polish Navy were signed. Pursuant to these agreements a prototype RATOWNIK-class vessel will be put into service (the contract also provides for the possibility of acquiring a second vessel of this type), as well as two more KORMORAN-class mine destroyers. The total value of the contracts signed is nearly 2 billion zlotys.

The order for the construction of the RATOWNIK ships will be performed by a consortium of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa’s companies comprising: PGZ S.A., Stocznia Remontowa NAUTA S.A., Stocznia Wojenna PGZ Sp. z o.o., and OBR CTM S.A..The estimated value of this order may reach 1.5 billion zlotys.The contract with the Arms Inspectorate was signed by the president of PGZ S.A.’s board Błażej Wojnicz and member of the board Adam Lesiński who jointly represented the consortium of PGZ companies.

On the other hand, the contract for the construction of two more KORMORAN-class mine destroyers was signed by the Arms Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defence and a Consortium comprising Remontowa Shipbuilding (Leader) and companies from Gdynia owned by Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, i.e. Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Centrum Techniki Morskiej S.A. (CTM) and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna.

Both contracts were signed in the presence of the Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence Bartosz Kownacki.

“As far as the RATOWNIK-class vessel is concerned, we need modern ships of this type because we are planning to decommission the 570-design rescue ships, i.e. the ORP “Piast” and the ORP “Lech”.This project is of material importance to state security, among other things because of the fact that deliveries of the new ships are to secure the operations of the submarines acquired under the ORKA programme.It is just as important to acquire more KORMORAN-class vessels that will improve Polish Navy's capabilities when it comes to mine threats,” said minister Bartosz Kownacki during the ceremony.  “Both of the agreements signed today constitute another very important step towards rebuilding the neglected potential of the Polish Navy that this year received its first new ship in more than twenty years, and is currently gaining real prospects of including more vessels built in Polish shipyards,” he added.

The consortium comprising PGZ S.A., Stocznia Remontowa NAUTA S.A., SW PGZ SP z o.o., and Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Centrum Techniki Morskiej S.A. has been established to jointly participate in the RATOWNIK programme, which required submitting an offer for the supply of two rescue ship, including one as an option.The estimated value of a single vessel is approximately 800 million zlotys.It is estimated that from the moment of signing the contract it will take nearly five years to build the first ship.The ship’s concept and its detailed design is being prepared by MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting Sp. z o.o..

 “Performance of the order for the supply of the RATOWNIK-class ships is a great opportunity for the Group to expand its competencies in the naval platform segment.Construction of these vessels will also act as a good warm-up before other procedures related to the modernisation of the Polish Navy, including in particular the ORKA programme carried out with a foreign partner.It is also worth noting that it is the first order whose major part will be completed by Stocznia Wojenna S.A. that is currently being incorporated into the structures of the PGZ Group,” said the president of PGZ S.A.’s board Błażej Wojnicz.

Rescue ships act as auxiliary vessels used for the Navy’s rescue operations: saving the lives of damaged submarines’ crews, retrieving sunken military hardware, extinguishing fires of other ships, as well as deactivations and disinfections in case weapons of mass destruction were used.In order to be able to complete these tasks the ships will be supplied with, among other things, equipment for saturation diving and curative decompression of the crews saved, unmanned submarines, fire-extinguishing systems, deactivation and disinfection systems, as well as a medical complex.The ship will also have a landing pad for helicopters.

The contract for the delivery of two more KORMORAN-class ships is the result of the framework agreement signed on 23 September 2013.Pursuant to its provisions after the qualification tests of the first ship are completed successfully a contract for the construction of two more ships of the same series was supposed to be signed.The first ship called the ORP “Kormoran” was incorporated into the Navy on 28 November 2017.

The core of the consortium responsible for her construction was formed by Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. and CTM.The above-mentioned shipyard was responsible for supplying the naval platform, hardware, installations, and primary ship systems, including navigation and communications.CTM on the other hand acted as the integrator of the Command and Combat Asset Management System, and it also produced and supplied the Integrated Combat System comprising: command support subsystem, passive defence system, underwater surveillance system, including the SHL-101/TM and SHL-300 echo-location stations as well as the “Toczek” explosives for destroying naval mines.

“The combat value of a modern ship is defined by the systems it is equipped with.This is why the delivery of the CTM-developed SCOT Combat Management System for the first “Kormoran” confirmed that we have the necessary competencies in this field in Poland.Now, after signing the contract for the next ships, we are satisfied that our national system has become the target platform for a series of ships,” said the president of CTM’s board Andrzej Kilian.