Historic ship launch strengthens Ukrainian fleet in Istanbul

Another ship was launched for the Ukrainian Navy in Istanbul. The Ukrainian Defence Minister, Rustem Umerov, who visited Ankara on Friday, stated that the new vessels would strengthen Ukraine's fleet and improve the defence of maritime borders in the future.

Umerov reported that they discussed bilateral defence cooperation during his meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Yaşar Güler. The conference also focused on security in the Black Sea region.

The Ukrainian minister thanked Güler for supporting the building of two ships for Ukraine. He noted that the new vessels will significantly strengthen the Ukrainian fleet and enhance their capability to defend maritime borders in the future.

The corvette "Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky" was launched on Thursday in Istanbul. In addition to Umerov, the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, participated in the ceremony. The previous ship built for the Ukrainian forces, "Hetman Ivan Mazepa," was launched in October 2022.

Also on Friday, the Turkish agency Anadolu reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ratified the free trade agreement with Ukraine, signed at the beginning of 2022.

Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat announced that in 2023, the value of bilateral trade between Turkey and Ukraine amounted to £5.9 billion. Trade between the countries primarily includes iron and steel, machinery, energy, the automotive industry, and grain.

The Ada-class corvette is an anti-submarine corvette class developed by Turkey. The ship is 100 metres long, and all ships in this series were built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard.