On March 19, 2025, at the Gdańsk shipyard Remontowa Shipbuilding SA, the christening and launching ceremony of the fifth in the series of modern minehunters of the Project 258 type Kormoran II took place. During the ceremony, the future ship was named Rybitwa, and the godmother uttered the traditional words: “Sail the seas and oceans of the world, glorify the name of the Polish shipyard worker and the Polish sailor.” This event is another important step in the modernization of the Polish naval fleet.
The 258/5 project ship is the fifth in a series of modern minehunters built for the Navy. The future ORP Rybitwa with the side number 605 will be the second unit, after ORP Jaskółka, of three intended for the Świnoujście 12th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla.
During the ceremony, the unit’s godmother, Mrs. Maria Teryfter, wife of the former commander of 8FOW Rear Admiral Krzysztof Teryfter (commanded in the years 2009-2014), uttered the words of baptism: “Sail the seas and oceans of the world, glorify the name of the Polish shipyard worker and Polish sailor. I give you the name Rybitwa”, after which a symbolic champagne bottle was struck against the side and the ship was launched. From that day on, the stage of equipping the unit, assembly of weapons, devices and ship systems will begin.
According to their purpose, KORMORAN II minehunters are used to search, classify, identify and combat sea mines, conduct reconnaissance of waterways, lead other units through mine-threat areas, lay mines and remotely control self-propelled mine-sweeping platforms. This applies to both operations in Polish maritime areas and missions in tactical groups in the Baltic Sea and beyond (teams of NATO, EU ships or multinational coalition forces).
The ship is being built by a consortium led by Remontowa Shipbuilding SA. The consortium also includes the Research and Development Centre of Maritime Technology SA in Gdynia and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna.
Together with the ships already serving in the Gdynia 13th Minesweeper Squadron – the prototype ship of the ORP Kormoran series (601) and the serial units ORP Albatros (602) and ORP Mewa (603), the next units under construction: ORP Jaskółka (604), ORP Rybitwa (605) and ORP Czajka (606) will be part of the Navy’s mine defense system. A total of 6 ships of the 258 project KORMORAN II type will be part of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla. According to the plans, ships 604-606 will be put into service in 2026-2027.