By Chaitali Halder Bag.
Larnaca. Cyprus. 20 January 2017. Omani Navy is all set to deliver to Cyprus an open ocean naval vessel within the next few weeks. It will be Cyprus’ first such ship.Cyprus Navy is a nascent Navy with Fast Patrol Craft (PCF)which are restricted to patrols along the coastline
Oman’s Defence Minister in 2014, Badr Bin Saud Bin Al-Busaidi had decided to donate a vessel of the Royal Omani Navy to the Republic of Cyprus. This 61,47m, 948-tonne vessel has seen an investment of €3.5million to €4m undertaken by Oman to upgrade it.
The Cyprus Naval Command also known as the Cyprus Navy or Cypriot Navy is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard. This force does not possess any capital ships or other major warships, but is equipped with patrol boats, landing craft, surface-to-surface missile systems and integrated radar systems, as well as SEALs-type naval underwater demolitions units.
The Cyprus Navy has the primary mission of defending the sea borders of the Republic of Cyprus, but is currently unable to access waters around Northern Cyprus which are controlled by the Turkish Navy since the 1974 conflict.
Cyprus is looking to expanding its naval inventory which is Cyprus observers feel is a welcome step. It may be recalled that Cyprus signed a deal in 2015 to allow Russian navy to use its ports, which got it into an eye of a storm. Cyprus already has British Military Bases. Also with Turkish Navy controlling quite a lot of its waters it surely needs strong forces itself.
