Croatian Coast Guard

Croatian Coast Guard (Croatian: Obalna straža Republike Hrvatske) is a division of the Croatian Navy responsible for protecting interests of the Republic of Croatia at sea. The Croatian Navy is composed of classical naval forces structured into a fleet and the second part is the Coast Guard that is solely consist of ships with peacetime duties, e.g. protection of ecology, fishing, control of tankers, ballast waters, combat against terrorism, trafficking of people, narcotics and similar.^[1]

History & Mission

On September 13, 2007, the Croatian Parliament passed a bill establishing the Croatian Coast Guard. The Coast Guard's mission is protect sovereign rights and carry out Croatia's jurisdiction in the Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone, the continental shelf and the high seas. The Coast Guard will also monitor vessels sailing in the Croatian territorial waters. If vessels are caught violating Croatian or international regulations and disregard warnings by the Coast Guard, Coast Guard ships and airplanes are authorized to pursue them and if necessary open fire, while taking care not to jeopardize the lives of the vessel's crew.

Under the law, the commander of the Coast Guard is a Navy officer who is appointed and relieved of duty by the President of the Republic at the government's proposal.^[2]

Organizational structure and equipment

Organizational structure of Croatian Coast Guard:

• Coast Guard Command
  • 1st Division - Split
  • 2nd Division - Pula

Ships of Croatian Navy under the Command of Coast Guard:

• OB-01 Novigrad
• OB-02 Šolta
• OB-03 Cavtat
• OB-04 Hrvatska Kostajnica
• BŠ-72 Andrija Mohorovičić
• BS-73 Faust Vrančić
• Tugs LR-71 i LR-73

Croatian part of Adriatic Sea is also controlled by Croatian Police - Maritime department and Harbormasters’ offices (Lučka kapetanija) whose ships are marked similar to Navy ships.

Besides the warships, the Coast Guard has at its disposal several Pilatus PC-9 aircraft and Mil Mi-8 helicopters of the Croatian Air Force and Defense.

Future developments

The construction of the first out of projected 10 vessels is scheduled to start in 2010 and the final vessel is to be constructed by the end of 2013. These patrol boats will be built in Croatian shipyards and should be around 40 meters long, incorporating the latest stealth technology. Similar but slightly smaller vessels have recently been built for Libya. Follow-up orders have been made and 26 ships are now entering Libyan service. A second country is also rumoured to have ordered the vessels.

Gallery

See also

• Croatian Navy
• Port captaincies of the Republic of Croatia

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://www.vlada.hr/en/naslovnica/novosti_i_najave/2007/rujan/vlada_u_sabor_uputila_prijedlog_zakona_o_obalnoj_strazi

Croatian Army • 
Croatian Navy  • 
Croatian Air Force and Air Defence