Turva is a Finnish offshore patrol vessel. Built in 2014 by STX Finland Rauma shipyard for the Finnish Border Guard, she is the largest vessel of the fleet as well as the first patrol vessel in Finland powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Development and construction
In the second supplemental budget of 2009, the Government of Finland reserved 57 million euro for the procurement of a new offshore patrol vessel for the Finnish Border Guard. In addition, a further 10.4 million euro was reserved for the design and development of the new vessel in 2009–2010. However, it was found out that the allocated funds would not be enough to purchase a vessel that would fulfill the requirements, so in the third supplemental budget of 2011 the funding was increased by 70 percent, bringing the price of the vessel to 97 million euro and making her the most expensive patrol vessel ever constructed in Finland.
The development of the new offshore patrol vessel was carried out in close co-operation with the Finnish Environment Institute and STX Finland Rauma shipyard which presented the UVL10 (Ulkovartiolaiva 2010, Finnish for "offshore patrol vessel 2010") concept to the public in October 2011. As part of the design process, model tests were carried out by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Aker Arctic. On 21 December 2011, the Finnish Border Guard officially awarded the contract for the construction of the new offshore patrol vessel, which would provide over 400 man-years of work to the builder and had a domestic content of about 90 percent, to STX Finland Rauma shipyard with the initial delivery date set in November 2013. The shipyard had an option for a sister vessel, but no funding was secured for the second offshore patrol ship.
The steel cutting ceremony, which marks the official start of production, was held in Rauma on 22 October 2012 and the keel of vessel, identified by its yard number as "newbuilding 1385", was laid on 25 February 2013. A naming contest was also announced by the Finnish Border Guard. On 2 August 2013, the ship was launched and her sponsor, Minister of the Interior Päivi Räsänen, gave her the name Turva, Finnish for "protection" or "security". The name was chosen out of 1,358 proposals and has previously been used for a 1977-built patrol vessel that was sold to a private owner in 2007. The construction of the new offshore patrol vessel was slightly delayed and Turva began her first sea trials on 25 February 2014. About a month later, on 21 March, the vessel left for the second sea trials. Turva was completed and handed over to the Finnish Border Guard on 9 May 2014. However, her departure from Rauma was slightly delayed due to damage to one of her tanks during commissioning.
Turva replaced three smaller vessels: 1999-built Telkkä (sold to Norwegian interest), 2002-built Tavi (sold to UK Border Force and renamed HMC Protector) and 2004-built Tiira (sold together with Telkkä). The old vessels were not strengthened for navigation in ice and their oil spill prevention and response capability was not deemed adequate for dealing with the increased traffic in the Gulf of Finland.
On 16 September 2013, STX Finland decided to close the shipyard in June 2014 and for a while it looked like Turva would be the last new vessel built in Rauma where ships have been constructed for over 300 years. However, a new shipbuilding company, Rauma Marine Constructions, took over the shipyard in the summer of 2014.
In December 2020, the Finnish Government authorized the Border Guard to order two new offshore patrol vessels. The new vessels will be similar in size to Turva and enter service by 2025. On 16 August 2021, the Border Guard signed a letter of intent with Meyer Turku for the construction of the new vessels.
Design
General characteristics
Turva is long and wide, making her the largest vessel ever commissioned by the Finnish Border Guard as well as longer than any existing or past vessel commissioned by the Finnish Navy. Fully laden, she draws of water. At design draught, the vessel has a deadweight tonnage of 660 tonnes while her maximum deadweight is around 1,800 tonnes. Her complement will be approximately 30.