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VL Telka

Three Border Guard patrol vessels, namely Telka, Tavi and Tiira, were patrol vessels completed in 1999, 2002 and 2004. These are 49.5 meters long patrol vessels used by the Coast Guard. The accommodation lists nine cabins and 18 "bunks" as accommodations.

Border Guard vessels are used for border management, maritime rescue, environmental and resource control, offshore oil and chemicals, international operations, special maritime operations, marine research, and extensive cooperation between authorities. The current tasks and strategy of the Border Guard require the equipment to operate efficiently and diversely at sea under all conditions throughout the year. Foreign patrol vessels must be able to operate independently throughout the Baltic Sea region. This requires sufficient size, very good seaworthiness and operational capability on the ice, long operating time and global communications. These features are not even available with accessories in the Telka class, so the Border Guard will give up this fleet, even though it is technically not in its service life.

VL Telkä was a guard ship belonging to the Western Finland Coast Guard. Telkä's home port was Turku . There are 11 to 14 people on board. The vessel was handed over to the Western Finland Coast Guard in the summer of 1999. VL Tavi belonged to the Gulf Coast Guard. Tavi's home port was Helsinki and it mainly operated in the Gulf of Finland. With 13 personnel on board, VL Tavi was an open-sea ship and was a so-called multi-purpose vessel, so it could be used in addition to border and sea rescue missions for environmental protection and defense.

The guard ship Tiira is a guard ship belonging to the Western Finland Coast Guard. Tiira's home port was Vaasa and it operated mainly in the Gulf of Bothnia . There were 13 personnel on board. Tire worked as necessary in an oil and chemical accident . VL Tiira and other vessels of the Telka class were abandoned in the autumn of 2014 because they cannot be used in winter conditions and no funds have been made available for their use. They were replaced by one larger ship being built at STX Finland's Rauma shipyard .

VL Tavi and other vessels in the Telka class were abandoned as of 2014, as they cannot be used in winter conditions and no funds have been made available for their use. They were replaced by a larger ship built at STX Finland's Rauma shipyard . The new patrol vessel Turva became operational on June 24, 2014. The Tavi was bought by the UK Border Force, the British Border Force, and was renamed HMC Protector.

The austerity decisions made a few years ago and the change in the operating environment force the Border Guard to sell three of its guard vessels. The Border Guard sold its patrol vessels completed at the turn of the 21st century through newspaper advertising in Helsingin Sanomat. In total, there are three vessels for sale. In practice, ships had to be abandoned much faster than originally planned. "If we think that the lifespan of the ships is 25-30 years, then they are only halfway through their life cycle," says Commander Jukka Jaakkola, Head of the Technical Department of the Border Guard Headquarters.Jaakkola admits that the purchase may not have been the best possible.

The ships were sold due to changes in the operating environment of the Border Guard. The savings obligations made during the previous government also compel us to abandon them. Since the ships were built, there had big changes in the operational side that the ships have become redundant. The operating environment changed dramatically due to, for example, Finland's Schengen membership and the disappearance of the Soviet Union, which was still in existence at the ship design stage. Changes in maritime traffic also made ships useless. In addition, the savings made a few years ago meant that the Border Guard no longer had access to these ships.

Additional impetus for the sale came from the fact that they cannot be used in winter conditions. Of the ships, only Tavia has been used to some extent in the last two years, while Tiira and Telka have been at the quay. The ships had been sold and buyers have been sought for a couple of years, but other Finnish authorities, for example, are not enthusiastic about buying them. At least some inquiries about ships have come. No serious, credible buyer has emerged, and now the Coast Guard was in a position to offer them in an open tender. The ships can even go abroad. The commodor will not assess the price at this stage. The sale is finally decided by the Government.

Vessels could be used in the Baltic Sea, for example, in case of accidents or oil spill response. The vessels are suitable for offshore use and are virtually unable to navigate in winter conditions. Ships for sale will be replaced, inter alia, by existing patrol boats and a new patrol boat under construction.

On 29 August 2013 the Government authorized the Border Guard to conclude a contract for the sale of the patrol vessel Tavi to the Border Guard of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A call for tenders was launched in January 2013 for the sale of the Telka class patrols, the decommissioned Border Guard, to the UK Border Force, the UK and Northern Border Guard.

It was decided to abandon the "Telka class" vessels because their operational characteristics no longer meet the requirements of the changed Border Guard and because of the rapid savings required by the Border Guard during the preparation of the 2010 budget. The current tasks and strategy of the Border Guard require the fleet to operate efficiently, and in particular to diversify its maritime capabilities throughout the year under all conditions. The abolition of tent-class vessels became possible when the Border Guard decided to acquire a new foreign patrol vessel called Turva, which will be commissioned in late 2013.

The tendering procedure for the patrol vessels Telkä and Tiira was reopened in August 2013. On 07 November 2013 the Government gave permission to the Border Guard to sell its Telka and Tiira patrol vessels to a company called Mobico Shipping As in Norway. The vessels for sale belong to the so-called "Telka" class, whose functional characteristics no longer meet the requirements of the Border Guard's operating environment.