VESSEL REVIEW | Kyrenia – Patrol boat trio enters service with Cyprus’ marine police

Tehnomont Shipyard in Croatia recently handed over three new patrol vessels in a series to the Cyprus Port and Marine Police.

Kyrenia, Kantara, and Pentadaktylos were built by Tehnomont to a design developed by UK naval architecture firm Camarc in compliance to Bureau Veritas class rules. Each has all-aluminium construction, an LOA of 17.6 metres, a beam of 4.7 metres, a draught of 1.6 metres, and space for up to six crewmembers.

Two MTU V8 engines that each produce 896 kW drive propellers to deliver a top speed of 35 knots and a service speed of 27 knots. Even during fast transits, the level of noise that can be heard from inside the vessels is a low 65 dB.

The vessels are also capable of extended-range missions and can be used for search and rescue (SAR) in addition to general maritime law enforcement functions. Each boat therefore has an upper flybridge navigation station, from where the helm crew can benefit from unobstructed all-round visibility during days of clear weather, as well as side rescue wells.

When operating during nighttime or under adverse weather conditions, the crew on each boat have access to two Simrad radars and a Teledyne FLIR rotating thermal imaging camera that can detect a person floating in the water up to five kilometres away. An object with a larger profile, such as a boat, can be detected at a maximum distance of 10 kilometres with the aid of the thermal camera. These and the other onboard systems draw power from two 20kW generators.

The vessels are initially unarmed but are fitted with fore and aft machine gun mounts with ballistic protection shields.

Thanks in part to their long endurance and their durable but lightweight construction, the new patrol boats will be operated in Mediterranean waters up to 150 nautical miles from shore.