Lithuanian Armed Forces have officially received the P15 patrol ship, a former Danish Navy Flyvefisken-class vessel, bought earlier from Denmark.
P15 was transferred to the Lithuanian Navy at a ceremony in Korsør port in Denmark on November 23.
The new ship is replacing 50 years old Storm-class LNS Sėlis (P32) built in Norway that the Lithuanian Navy currently uses.
According to the Lithuanian ministry of defense, the P15 is scheduled to sail into Klaipėda in December and to be christened in January 2017.
“Our newly purchased patrol ship from Denmark is our effort to maintain the capacity of the patrol ships division of the Lithuanian Navy. From now on it will be comprised of four up-to-date multirole ships of the same type which will ensure the tasks, i.e. patrolling Lithuania’s territorial Baltic Sea, search and rescue, and others, are completed efficiently for a long time to come,” Commander of the Lithuanian Navy said.
According to Commander, the P15 is twice as new as the so far used Sėlis (P32). Maintaining P32 became a problem as the navy had difficulties in obtaining spare parts for it.
The newer Flyvefisken-class vessel was built in Denmark and is handed over to Lithuania on the basis of an agreement signed by the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) in September 2016. By this agreement, the Lithuanian Armed Forces bought the P15 vessel and two anti-submarine detection sonar systems for patrol ships.
Total value of the project is EUR 6.5 m.
While moored in Korsør, the banner of the Lithuanian Navy was hoisted in the P15 during a ceremony in the presence of representatives of the Lithuanian Navy, its crew, and DALO representatives.
The P15 is the fourth ship of the Flyvefisken (Danish for flying-fish) class, or Standart Flex 300 type multirole ship in the patrol ships division of the Lithuanian naval flotilla. The first three ships, Žemaitis (P11), Dzūkas (P12) and Aukštaitis (P14), began service in the Lithuanian Navy in 2008-2010.
Danyard A/S Olborge shipyard in Denmark built 14 Flyvefisken-class vessels from 1987 to 1996. First vessels joined the Danish Navy in 1989.