The new LNS H–24 tugboat was inaugurated into the Lithuanian Navy and christened at a ceremony at the Klaipėda Cruise Ship Terminal.
As informed, the vessel was named Lokys, the Bear, and commissioned into the Naval Flotilla. The ASD 3010 class design harbor tugboat was built by Dutch shipbuilding major Damen.
The Defense Materiel Agency, under the Ministry of National Defense, signed a contract with Damen for the construction of a new harbor tugboat in August 2024. The contract committed Damen to build the ship for Lithuania within a period of 9 months. The value of the contract is €10.8 million.
The new tugboat spans nearly 30 meters in length and 12 meters in width. The ship has 300 tons in capacity, and sails at up to 13 knots. It will be used for the full range of harbor functions: to tug warships of Lithuania and even larger ones of NATO on port calls in Klaipėda.
Its functions also encompass rescue, pollution control, firefighting, and maritime safety operations. It will be a versatile addition to the Navy’s routine and emergency capabilities at sea. The tugboat will be operated by 8 crew members.
“The geographical positioning and importance for economic, as well as our national security interests, cannot be overstated, therefore we must dedicate due attention and resources to the Lithuanian Navy. We can see and we perceive clearly the threats, therefore we are developing maritime capabilities and continue to do so, while this brand new H-24 harbor tugboat is just one example of it,” said Vice Minister Karolis Aleksa at the commissioning.
“This is the first time in the history of the Lithuanian Navy that we have received a brand new vessel. She has been built to match our requirements, every detail of the construction having been coordinated with Navy experts who worked on this project,” said Commander of the Navy in the welcoming address RADM Giedrius Premeneckas .
“We are also about to receive two brand new attack craft as well and look forward with anticipation in terms of acquisition of new multirole patrol ships, we hope that the new capabilities will strengthen the guard of Lithuania’s maritime boundary and the territorial waters,” he concluded.
Lithuania recently announced its plans to acquire two advanced, fast, multirole attack craft. Finnish designer and manufacturer of combat boats Marine Alutech is in charge of developing and delivering the combat boats based on the Watercat M18 model.