Tuesday, 16th March 2010 - 14:22CET

Patrol boats to be commissioned on Thursday

Four new patrol boats will be commissioned by the Armed Forces of Malta on Thursday.

The patrol boats were built by Australian shipyard Austal in a project of some €9.6 million project, of which 75% were provided by the EU External Borders Fund.

The boats have a displacement of 40 tons and a length of 21.2 metres, significantly larger than the two old Swift class boats they will replace. They carry a crew of eight and have a speed in excess of 26 knots.

The commissioning of the boats will be made by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at the maritime base at Haywharf, Pieta.

Video above shows the building and sea trials of the patrol boats.

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Comments

victor vella(on 16/3/10)

I do believe in the local expertise in the boat building industry and in the Maltese worker as a whole, but have we stopped to consider the cost of buying the design and building thses boats?We all know what happened with the timber carriers and the Gozo channel boats.It simply won't work out my friends.Biex jigi xi wiehed jiftahar li fi 8 snien ix shipbuilding qatt ma ghamel gurnata xoghol sura?

Jesmond Micallef(on 16/3/10)

Carmel Cilia, If I am not mistaken, these boats are built using aluminium alloy. In Malta there is a wealth of boat building expertise using GRP together with traditional marine grade wood. The local leisure boat industry. A company at Corradino is currently developing an electric boat with funding from the newly set up Government Research and Development fund, so that is already something worth noting. I still believe that further promotion is required locally as there is expertise in Malta, no doubt. Considering the location of the Maltese islands and the local traditional boat building industry, it makes sense to have R&D backing in this industry. Maybe some local boat builders may consider R&D funding from the government in developing boats built using aluminium alloys. It certainly has its advantages as alternate material to GRP, both environmentally and technologically.

Eric Gahn(on 16/3/10)

@J Martinelli: Your faith in maltese workers and workmanship is commendable. I suppose that you only eat french loaves, Argentine steak and Scottish salmon as local produce might have some indigerable ingredient. Keep it up.

J Martinelli(on 16/3/10)

@ carmel cilia ...and it would have taken two years to design, five years to build, two years to iron out the bugs, a year or so of disputes with the GWU regarding the hiring of foreign workers and substantial overrun costs. We've been there before Mr. Cilia.

lgalea(on 16/3/10)

Thank you for your patriotic spirit Martinelli. With friends like these who needs enemies?

carmel cilia(on 16/3/10)

It seems that this government contrary to what it said to uphold had no faith in maltese workmanship. Before closing down the dockyard was it not possible for these patrol boats to have been built locally so that most of the 10million euros would have been generated locally. No I think our drydocks were not capable to do this work. It seems that this government is doing its utmost to send money out of the island. The selling of everything we had to foreigners justifies my ascertions. What a pity, what a disgrace. This island has really touched the bottom of the barrel.

Jesmond Micallef(on 16/3/10)

Nice video clip !! It would have been nice to watch how these boats performed in rough seas, also !! Anyway my very best wishes to the commisioning and entry into service of the new boats. May they be successfully utilised in protecting human life and Maltese territory.