Potential contractors put forward first offers for new Estonian Navy vessels
Four shortlisted companies have submitted their initial bids to the Estonian Center for Defense Investments (RKIK) to build the Estonian Navy's new vessels.
The Estonian Navy has recently been hit by a string of setbacks. The patrol vessel Raju is sitting in dry dock in Pärnu after its propellers were damaged while being lifted out of the water for scheduled maintenance. At the Mine Harbor Naval Base, the minehunters Admiral Cowan and Sakala are also out of service. Admiral Cowan sustained ice damage over the winter and requires dry-docking, while Sakala suffered a fire — or at least an incident in which one compartment filled with smoke — after which its electrical system sustained water damage during firefighting efforts. The Ministry of Defense says the Navy's operational response capability remains intact.
"Because we still have other vessels, our response capability has been maintained, even though two ships are currently out of service. Ugandi has returned from its mission and we also have Kindral Kurvits and other vessels," said Gert Kaju, head of the Ministry of Defense's defense readiness department.
Ugandi spent three months deployed with NATO's Standing Mine Countermeasures Group, replacing the now-damaged Admiral Cowan. Ugandi and Wambola successfully made it through Estonia's ice while sailing to a military exercise in Germany in February, but Admiral Cowan was not as fortunate.
As for the new vessels, South Korea's Hanwha and Hyundai, Sweden's Saab, and Estonia's Baltic Workboats have now responded to the request for proposals.
"We requested an indication of pricing and delivery schedules. After that, we'll review what those prices are based on, discuss the proposals with the bidders, draw our conclusions, possibly revise the technical and functional requirements and then continue discussions with the companies in the second stage," said Marek Mardo, naval category manager at RKIK.
Over the next four years, Estonia plans to procure four new vessels for the Navy — two for nearshore operations and two larger ships for operations on the open sea. Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has said the vessels should be built in Estonia in cooperation with foreign partners.
"That requirement is in place. It currently stands at up to 30 percent and we'll address it in greater detail during the second stage. Yes, it applies to both the larger and smaller vessels," Mardo said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Marko Tooming
