Keel laid in Estonia for modular defence vessel under EU-funded project

A keel laying ceremony was held on May 27 at the Baltic Workboats shipyard in Nasva, Estonia, marking a key milestone in the construction of a new semi-autonomous modular surface vessel being developed under the European defence fund’s Euroguard initiative.

The 45-metre vessel, designed for modular mission profiles, is being built as part of a €95 million (US$110 million) programme co-funded by the European Commission and participating member states. The project is coordinated by Estonian shipbuilder Baltic Workboats and involves a consortium of 23 organisations across ten European countries.

According to Baltic Workboats, the vessel will be equipped with modular payload bays for seabed monitoring, mine countermeasure operations, drone integration, and search and rescue missions. It will also feature "green propulsion" and autonomous navigation systems.

The Euroguard project, which began in late 2023, is scheduled to run through the end of 2027.