The future minesweeper ship Rybitwa was launched in Poland

On March 19, 2025, the baptism ceremony and launch of the fifth in a series of modern ORP Rybitwa (605) minesweepers of the 258 Kormoran II project took place at the Remontowa Shipbuilding SA shipyard in Gdansk.

The press service of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla reported this.

The future minesweeper with the number 605 will be the second unit after the ORP Jaskółka out of three intended for the 12th Division of minesweepers Swinoujscie of the flotilla. The first steel for the fifth ORP Rybitwa (605) was ceremonially laid in January 2024.

The Kormoran II class ships are used to search for, classify, identify, and combat sea mines, conduct reconnaissance of waterways, guide other units through mine-hazardous waters, lay down mines, and remotely control self-propelled minesweeping platforms.

“This applies to both operations in Polish maritime areas and missions in tactical groups in the Baltic Sea and beyond (NATO, EU or multinational coalition forces),” the plans to use the ships in future missions were emphasized.

Along with the ships already serving in the 13th Mine Countermeasures Division in Gdynia, there is the ORP Kormoran (601), a prototype ship, and the ORP Albatros (602) and ORP Mewa (603). The following vessels are under construction:

• ORP Jaskółka (604);
• ORP Rybitwa (605);
• ORP Czajka (606).

They will become part of the Polish Navy’s mine countermeasures system.

In total, the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla will include six ships of the Kormoran II project 258 type. According to plans, ships 604-606, ordered in March 2022, will be commissioned in 2026-2027.

As the name of the Kormoran II class makes clear, this is the second generation of the project. Work on the first one started in 1999, but due to financial problems, the program was stopped in 2002.

In 2011, the design resumed under the designation Kormoran II. The construction of the main ship began in September 2013 with the signing of a contract to produce a prototype under Project 258. The following year, construction of the ORP Kormoran (601) began.

General characteristics of the Kormoran project lead ship:

• Displacement: 850 t;
• Length: 48.50 m;
• Beam: 10,30 m;
• Draft: 2,70 m;
• Speed: 15 knots;
• Crew: 45 people + 6 divers;
• Armament: twin 23 mm automatic guns.

In 2017, after the completion of all tests and a delay in correcting the identified deficiencies, the ship was handed over to the Polish Navy.

In December 2017, two more ships were ordered: Albatros (602) and ORP Mewa (603). ORP Albatros (602) was commissioned into the Polish Navy in August 2022, and ORP Mewa (603) was accepted in February 2023.

In March 2022, Mariusz Blaszczak, then Polish Minister of Defense, announced that the Kormoran II program would be extended. It was about ordering three more minesweepers – ORP Jaskółka, ORP Rybitwa, and ORP Czajka.

ORP Jaskółka (604) was laid down in July 2023 and launched in June 2024. According to the plan, in 2026, it is to be officially incorporated into the Polish Navy.

On October 15, 2024, the first steel was cut at Remontowa Shipbuilding SA in Gdynia, Poland, to construct the new ORP Czajka (606) minesweeper of the Kormoran 2 project.