Finland christens second new offshore patrol vessel
The Finnish Border Guard's new offshore patrol vessel Valpas at its christening at Uusikaupunki on 30 October 2026. (Finnish Border Guard)
The Finnish Border Guard's (FBG's) second new multipurpose offshore patrol vessel (OPV), Valpas , was christened at the Uki Workboat shipyard in Uusikaupunki on Finland's west coast on 30 October 2026.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen performed the naming ceremony, attended by FBG Deputy Chief Rear Admiral Tom Hanén and Meyer Turku deputy CEO Ville Saksi. Meyer Turku is the prime contractor for the two-vessel programme. The first ship, Karhu , is scheduled for completion in summer 2027, followed by Valpas by the end of that year.
The two ships will operate alongside the 2014-built OPV Turva , forming the core of the FBG's offshore patrol fleet. Their missions include maritime border surveillance, search and rescue, law enforcement, pollution response, firefighting, and emergency towing.
Meyer Turku received the construction contract in June 2022 following a competitive tender. Baltic Operator built the hulls in Gdańsk, Poland, with outfitting undertaken at Uki Workboat's Finnish yard. Finland's parliament authorised EUR448 million for the procurement.The new vessels measure 98 m long, with a beam of 17.6 m and a draught of 5.1 m, compared with Turva 's approximately 96 m length.Matti Hägerström, head of the FBG's site supervision team and the prospective commanding officer of Valpas , told Janes at the event that the ships retain much of Turva 's underlying capability despite the interval between their construction.
“There are no big differences between the three despite the time gap. Most of the specifications are similar,” he said.
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