On Friday, December 27, 2024, a ceremonial signing of the contract for the construction of a new rescue vessel for the Navy, codenamed Ratownik, took place in Gdynia. The contract was signed by Brigadier General Artur Kuptel, head of the Armament Agency, and Jan Grabowski, a member of the management board of Polish Armaments Group (PGZ). The ceremony was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Minister of National Defense Paweł Bejda, and the Head of the National Security Bureau Jacek Siewiera. This is already the third attempt to build a rescue vessel, and hopefully, as the saying goes, “third time’s the charm,” nothing will stand in the way of its realization this time.
Today, a ceremonial signing of the contract for the construction of a new rescue vessel for the Navy took place in Gdynia, with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Minister of National Defense Paweł Bejda, and the Head of the National Security Bureau Jacek Siewiera / Photos: Przemysław Gurgurewicz, MILMAG
As reported by Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz, the value of the contract exceeds 1 billion PLN (the exact value has not been made public). According to the terms of the contract, the cutting of the first steel plates is scheduled to take place within 12 months of signing the agreement, followed by the laying of the keel of the new vessel two months later. The launching of the vessel is expected to occur in 2027, with the delivery of the completed unit scheduled for 2029.
The ship will be based on the existing design numbered 570-II, developed during a previous attempt at the rescue vessel program by MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting Sp. z o.o. from Gdynia (internally designated as project 887R).
The contract was signed by Brigadier General Artur Kuptel, head of the Armament Agency, and Jan Grabowski, a member of the management board of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A.
As a result, the key parameters of the vessel will remain unchanged. It is expected to have a displacement of around 6,500 tons, a length of nearly 100 meters (compared to the original design of 95.85 meters), and a width of 18.8 meters. The ship will have a range of about 6,000 nautical miles, and its crew will consist of 100 people. Additionally, provisions have been made for 9 more people, meaning the ship will have a total of 109 berths. In the first phase of the work, the design will be updated, but no major changes are planned.
Interestingly, the Deputy Prime Minister reiterated what he had said during the Navy Day celebrations, namely that the ship will be named ORP Ratownik, quote: “The Rescue Ship – ORP Ratownik, the program and the same name, will serve the Navy, will ensure the safety of our sailors, all those operating in the Baltic, but it will also serve, of course, if the need arises, civilian vessels.”
To This is the second signing of the contract for the construction of a new rescue vessel. The first contract was signed on December 27, 2017, but on April 24, 2020, the Ministry of National Defense canceled it due to a higher-than-expected price
Whether this name will indeed be given to the vessel will ultimately be decided during the christening and launching in 2027. In recent years, this unusual practice of naming ships after the codename of the ongoing construction program has already set a precedent with the minehunter ORP Kormoran. However, unlike this case, where the name fit within the traditional naming convention for mine warfare vessels, in the case of rescue vessels, our ships are currently named Piast, Lech, Zbyszko, and Maćko (historical Medieval Polish names—translator’s note). It is hard to ignore that Ratownik does not align with this tradition.
The contract signed today marks the third attempt to build a ship of this class. The program to build new rescue vessels, intended to replace the long-serving (both in service since 1974) 570M project rescue ships: ORP Piast and ORP Lech, was initiated in 2015.
This is already the third attempt to build a rescue vessel, and let’s hope that this time nothing will stand in the way of its realization
The analytical and conceptual phase was initiated at that time, which lasted until July 20, 2017. Then, on September 7, a tendering process was launched, which concluded on December 27 with the signing of a contract for the construction of one vessel (with an option for a second) with a consortium consisting of Polish Armaments Group, Nauta Shiprepair Yard, PGZ Stocznia Wojenna, and the Research and Development Center for Marine Technology S.A. The unit price was set at 755 million PLN, with the delivery deadline set for the end of November 2022. However, on April 24, 2020, the Ministry of National Defense canceled the contract due to, as stated by the then Armament Inspectorate, the fact that: “it was not possible to accept, for formal and legal reasons, the annex proposal regarding the change in the deadline and value of the contract submitted by the contractor.”
A month later, the second attempt to implement the program was made. On May 22, 2020, the Ministry of National Defense approved the documents related to the purchase of the rescue vessel, and negotiations with Polish Armaments Group began at the end of July 2020. After more than 1.5 years of proceedings, on February 21, 2022, the Armament Agency notified the President of the Management Board of Polish Armaments Group S.A. about the cancellation of the process.
Nearly two years after this event, the Ratownik program returns for the third time with the signing of a new contract for its construction. It seems that this time it will be successfully brought to completion. On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz also stated that the program is closely linked to the purchase of new submarines, declaring: “The Orka program, which has been in preparation for many years, I know many have promised it to you, but we will make it happen. We will be the ones to turn those words into action. I want to confirm this once again. […] Today, the Navy takes priority, it is becoming the focal point of our efforts for the upcoming year, where we aim to make a historic order, a contract for submarines.”
Dziś zawarliśmy umowę na dostawę okrętu ratowniczego RATOWNIK. Wartość umowy wynosi 1 mld, a dostawa planowana jest do 2029 r.https://t.co/fZrwK5SeDl pic.twitter.com/wuUkqDVSWD
— Agencja Uzbrojenia (@AgencjaUzbr) December 27, 2024
Umowa o wartości ponad mld zł na pozyskanie okrętu ratowniczego podpisana! To bardzo dobra wiadomość dla Marynarki Wojennej RP. Zwiększą się jej zdolności do działań na Bałtyku. To też ważna umowa dla naszej gospodarki, bo budowa okrętu będzie realizowana w krajowych firmach i… pic.twitter.com/LRYFb3poLQ
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) December 27, 2024
Miliard złotych dla polskiej stoczni! Na mocy zawartego dziś kontraktu @PGZ_pl Stocznia Wojenna zbuduje okręt ratowniczy #RATOWNIK dla @MarWojRP .@MON_GOV_PL @AgencjaUzbr @Polska_Zbrojna @Defence24pl @WarNewsPL1 pic.twitter.com/rghMNPXfjU
— Paweł Bejda (@pawelbejda) December 27, 2024
Umowa w ramach programu #Ratownik podpisana! 🚢
W skład konsorcjum wchodzą PGZ S.A., PGZ Stocznia Wojenna i OBR CTM. W 2027 roku zwodujemy pierwszy okręt, który wzmocni zdolności operacyjne Marynarki Wojennej RP. Więcej szczegółów: https://t.co/imUwEzcPOB pic.twitter.com/RQb0kcQd73— Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa🇵🇱 (@PGZ_pl) December 27, 2024