Turkey Launches its First Indigenous Coastal Minesweeper

Sea Power, Jul 2004

The first Turkish indigenous coastal minesweeper (MSC), Amasra (M-266), was launched May 10 at Istanbul Naval Shipyard. The follow-on units of the Aydin class, M-267 and M-268, are under construction at Istanbul with the final two units of the class, M-269 and M-270, starting in 2005.

The first unit, Alunya (M-265), built in Germany by the Abeking & Rasmusscn and Lurssen Werft Consortium and launched on March 21, 2003, will be commissioned by the end of the year. All six MSCs are being built under a July 30, 1999, $625 million contract.

The contract called for the first unit to be built in Germany with the five follow-on units built in Turkey in order to expand its shipbuilding capabilities. Istanbul Naval Shipyard can now add mine warfare vessels to Turkey's portfolio of indigenously constructed ships.