The Croatian Navy has accepted a new Omis-type Umag patrol boat into its fleet.

This is reported by the official page of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia on the X social media network.

The ceremony was held at the Admiral Sveo Letica Barba barracks in Split. It became the second patrol boat of this type to be accepted into the fleet, supplementing the Omis of the same type.

“This is a great event, as this boat is the beginning of the modernization of the Croatian Navy,” Ivan Anušić, Croatian Minister of Defense, stated.

The €13.2 million boat will enhance the country’s patrolling capabilities and presence at sea, allowing for continuous monitoring of territorial waters and the suppression of violations.

The Omis type was developed by Marine and Energy Solutions DIV d.o.o. from Zagreb and built at Brodosplit’s facilities.

It has a displacement of 216 tons, a length of 43 meters and is equipped with a Turkish remote-controlled 30 mm Aselsan SMASH automatic gun. Powered by two Caterpillar engines, the boat can reach a speed of 28 knots. Additionally, it is equipped with optical systems, thermal imagers, and a surveillance radar.

In total, the country plans to build five boats of this type as part of the Croatian Navy’s Inshore Patrol Vessel modernization program.

The construction agreement was signed on December 2, 2014, when the Croatian Ministry of Defence awarded a contract to the national company Brodosplit for the supply of five new IPV patrol boats for the country’s Coast Guard following a tender. The deal was worth $63.5 million at the time of signing.

According to the original plans, the lead boat was to be delivered to the customer 15 months after the agreement was signed, and all five boats were to be delivered by 2017.

However, the Ministry of Defence later announced that the lead boat would be delivered in 2017, and the remaining four would be delivered by the end of 2018 (based on the results of the lead boat’s evaluation). However, these deadlines were not met either.

The keel of the lead boat was laid on September 17, 2015, and launched on June 3, 2017. The handover ceremony of the first boat, (31) Omis, to the Croatian Navy took place on December 7, 2018.