VESSEL REVIEW | Gintaras Zagunis – New patrol boat for Lithuanian border guard

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service recently took delivery of a new patrol vessel built by Baltic Workboats of Estonia.

The vessel has been named Gintaras Zagunis after the first Lithuanian border guard officer to be killed in the line of duty after the country regained its independence in 1990.

"The boat utilises a patented wave-piercing hull design that has proven itself capable of handling challenging conditions," Rimo Timm, Head of Sales at Baltic Workboats, told Baird Maritime. "Although the vessel is a near-identical sister of a patrol boat we delivered to the German Federal Customs Service in 2018, it is actually quite different with regards to the onboard systems and layout, which were developed in accordance to Lithuanian State Border Guard Service requirements."

Timm added that the newbuild replaces an older border guard boat that is nearing the end of its operational life. In addition to being a more modern platform, the new vessel also boasts improvements in systems, crew comfort, and operational capabilities.

Gintaras Zagunis will be used for maritime border patrols, surveillance, and search and rescue (SAR) in Lithuanian territorial waters. It may also be called upon to assist in joint maritime operations with Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, for six months in a year as part of the EU's campaign against illegal migration via the Mediterranean Sea.

The boat has all-aluminium construction, an LOA of 24 metres, a beam of 6.2 metres, and a crew of eight. The crew accommodation spaces also include a mess and a pantry. The noise level in the accommodation areas is kept to a tolerable 63 dB even when the vessel is sailing at high speed.

Two MTU 8V2000 M72 720kW engines drive fixed-pitch propellers via ZF 2000 gearboxes to deliver a top speed of 26 knots, whereas a more economical cruising speed of 25 knots will allow the vessel to sail up to 300 nautical miles. The propulsion arrangement also includes a Sleipner SH550 bow thruster to provide additional lateral manoeuvrability.

"We also fitted with the boat with Baltic Workboats' proprietary integrated automation, monitoring, and control system (IAMCS)," added Timm. "This will allow the crew to use a single touchscreen to control all of the vessel's main and auxiliary systems. The navigation equipment includes radars from Furuno while a Teledyne FLIR M500 rotating thermal camera and two Luminell SL2 LED searchlights help facilitate SAR operations at night."

There is also a well and a stern launch/recovery ramp for a 4.3-metre rigid inflatable boat (RIB). The daughtercraft may be used to aid in SAR as well as in accessing lagoons where the patrol vessel will have difficulty operating due to size and draught limitations.

The forward deck also has a pedestal for mounting a manually-operated general purpose machine gun.

Gintaras Zagunis was designed in compliance to Lloyd's Register's Special Service Craft (SSC) rules.

"I think our biggest learning point in building the vessel was the need to re-plan production activities according to changing environmental conditions and restrictions," Timm told Baird Maritime. "Also, since the vessel will operate in the Baltic and the Mediterranean Seas, we needed to make sure all the onboard systems are capable of withstanding low temperatures in the Baltic Sea during the winter and hotter temperatures in the Mediterranean during the summer."

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