Turkey’s ARES Shipyard has announced that it plans to complete the 122 patrol boats to secure the country’s coasts before the scheduled deadline.
The boats are being built for the Coast Guard Command and General Directorate of Security. They are crucial for coastal security of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). ARES Shipyard General Manager Özgün Utku Alanç said the mass production of the boats has already been launched. Three ARES 35 fast boats are being constructed for the TRNC Security Forces Command and the TRNC Coast Guard Command, he said, noting that ARES 35 patrol boats are also being constructed for Turkey’s Coast Guard Command and General Directorate of Security.
ARES 35 petrol boats are employed in fighting irregular immigration and human smuggling as well as search and rescue operations across Turkey’s coasts from the northeastern Artvin province at the Black Sea all the way down to Hatay in the Mediterranean, southeasternmost point of the country. The ARES 35 FPB has been designed to reach speeds above 35 nautical miles per hour. The operational acceptance tests of the boats are still underway. The initial tests of the boats were completed earlier by the Coast Guard command.
Alanç also said that 11 boats ARES Shipyard built for the Royal Oman Police Coast Guard (ROPCG) had been delivered. He said the integration of the equipment of 14 boats for the Oman Sultanate were still underway.
He also provided information about the country’s first armored unmanned surface vessel (AUSV) ULAQ “Our work on different configurations of the ULAQ boat is underway. We hope to conduct a second series of trial firings in the coming months.”
