Premiere: Romania has 2 multi-role search-and-rescue vessels for missing persons at sea

The first multi-role search, rescue and fire intervention vessels at sea that is part of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations was launched on Friday. It is about two such vessels, with costs mounting to over EUR 40 million.

The first vessel was designed and built at the Damen shipyard in Galati and cost approximately 20.3 million euros.

The vessels will help Romanian rescuers go on rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, for instance, and they will also be able to save people missing at sea, save boats adrift or extinguish fires on offshore oil rigs.

The second search and rescue vessel to enter the IGSU’s equipment will be launched in the next two to three weeks. It costs 25 million euros and has the capacity, in addition, to provide emergency medical assistance on the ship’s deck and to receive from 50 refugees up to even 100.

The giant rescue ships are 51 meters long and 10 meters wide. They can navigate with 40 kilometers per hour, with the help of four engines, which have 6,000 horsepower.

The ships of the Romanian firefighters will be able to reach a distance of 1,000 kilometers. This means that our military will be able to help countries in need. An example would be Greece, which is dealing with many cases of migrants lost at sea.

The contract for the purchase of the two multi-role ships, designed and built at the Galati shipyard, was signed in October 2022. The purchase is made with European funds through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program 2014-2021- Vision 2020 and has a total value of approximately 44 million euro.