Wicher heads for the water. Inside Poland's biggest shipbuilding operation in decades

Several thousand tonnes, nearly 139 metres of hull and very little margin for error. A multi-stage operation is under way in Gdynia that will end on Thursday with the future ORP Wicher touching water for the first time. The first frigate of the Miecznik programme has already left the hull assembly hall of PGZ Stocznia Wojenna, and since Monday morning it has been inching onto the deck of the semi-submersible barge Boabarge 33. The ship's christening is scheduled for Wednesday, 12 August, with the launch on Gdańsk Bay to follow a day later.

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10 august 2026   |   01:20   |   Source: Gazeta Morska   |   Prepared by: Kamil Kusier   |   Print

fot. Kamil Kusier / Gazeta Morska

A roll-out under floodlights

The operation began on Sunday evening, 9 August, at around 8:30 pm, when the completed hull, weighing roughly 6,000 tonnes, was partially rolled out of the assembly hall and illuminated. The frigate covered its first 40 metres or so, revealing more of its silhouette than ever before outside the hall where its sections and blocks have been joined together over the past three years. The yard staged the roll-out as an evening spectacle, noting that the illuminated hull emerging from the hall offered a rare chance to capture the frigate shortly before it takes to the water.

Guests at Sunday's event included the Inspector of the Polish Navy, Vice Admiral Jarosław Ziemiański, and the Commander of the Maritime Operations Centre - Maritime Component Command, Vice Admiral Piotr Nieć, the two officers responsible respectively for the fleet's development and its operational employment. Their presence underlined the military weight of the moment, beyond its industrial significance.

The hall Wicher has just left was built specifically for the Miecznik programme. Its gate stands 43 metres high and 34 metres wide, and work on the next ships of the series continues inside. Moving the first frigate out frees up space and will allow the yard to accelerate construction of the future ORP Burza.

278 axles under several thousand tonnes

The hull is being moved on SPMT units, self-propelled modular transporters designed for the heaviest structures. The platform assembled for Wicher consists of 278 hydraulically steered axles and itself weighs around 1,250 tonnes. The ship was set onto it as early as 8 August, with hydraulic system trials carried out and temporary water ballast pumped into the hull's tanks to keep it stable during the move.

At 7:00 am on Monday, 10 August, the procedure of moving the frigate onto the barge began. Once the ship is positioned and secured on deck, the SPMT units will be withdrawn ashore and the hull will settle onto keel blocks, the support structures prepared in advance. Boabarge 33 will then remain at the yard's quay while preparations for the final launch continue.

The most demanding moment of the whole operation comes when roughly half the hull's length passes the edge of the quay. The barge must then be ballasted with precision, as it gradually takes over the weight of the moving structure. Every support point under the hull was determined beforehand by the design office, and the technological instruction for the transfer required sign-off from both the SPMT operators and the barge's operators.

Boabarge 33, a veteran of giant projects

The barge receiving Wicher is one of the largest semi-submersible heavy-lift units in the world. Boabarge 33 is 140 metres long and more than 60 metres wide with its stabilising towers fitted, with a 5,800-square-metre deck and a carrying capacity of 30,200 tonnes. Its ballast tanks hold a combined 37,750 cubic metres, and its pumps can shift up to 10,000 cubic metres of water per hour.

Owned by Norway's BOA, the vessel has served some of the world's largest marine civil-engineering projects, floating off concrete breakwater caissons for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim gas field off Mauritania and Senegal, and caissons weighing up to 22,400 tonnes for Princess Elisabeth Island, the first artificial energy island in the Belgian part of the North Sea.

Launching from a barge is no improvisation: the method was written into the Miecznik programme's feasibility study, together with the decision to build a covered assembly hall. The solution was developed by Babcock, the programme's British technology partner. It is gentler on a modern, systems-laden warship than a traditional slipway launch, as the hull stays level throughout and is never exposed to launching stresses.

Christening on Wednesday, launch on Thursday

Once loading is complete, the barge and hull will be moved to the area of the yard's southern quay, where the christening and naming ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 12 August, at 11:30 am, attended by state authorities and the Polish Navy. The ship's godmother will be Agata Ziemiańska.

The launch itself is planned for Thursday, 13 August, weather permitting. The barge carrying Wicher will leave the Port of Gdynia for Gdańsk Bay, where a gradual submersion will begin, paused at intervals for watertightness checks. Once the barge sinks deep enough, the frigate will lift free on its own buoyancy, after which tugs will take over and bring it to the yard's quay. The ship will return to Gdynia, but not to the hall - further outfitting will be carried out afloat.

More advanced at this stage than its British predecessor

The launch does not mean the build is complete. At this stage Wicher is a hull with a growing density of systems, still ahead of the most complex phase of the programme: fitting-out and systems integration, followed by harbour and sea trials. The shaft lines and main elements of the propulsion system are already installed, and technical cabling work is under way. According to PGZ, Wicher's level of outfitting at launch exceeds that of the first British Type 31 frigate, built on the same Arrowhead 140 platform, a result of drawing on Babcock's experience.

- Wicher will be on time. We are on schedule as far as the construction of the first Miecznik is concerned - said Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa deputy chief executive Jan Grabowski.

Construction of the frigate began in August 2023, almost exactly three years ago. Delivery of the completed ship to the Polish Navy and the start of qualification trials are planned for 2028-2030, with entry into service expected towards the end of the decade. Formally, the vessel will become ORP Wicher only once its ensign is raised; until then it remains the future ORP Wicher.

Burza and Huragan follow in Wicher's wake

Wicher is the first of three frigates of the Miecznik programme, the largest naval shipbuilding programme in the history of the Polish Navy. The second ship, the future ORP Burza, already has its keel laid and further hull sections under construction, while work on the third frigate, the future ORP Huragan, began this April. The launches of the following ships are planned for 2027 and 2028, with deliveries in 2030 and 2031.

The new frigates will replace the ageing Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships ORP Gen. T. Kościuszko and ORP Gen. K. Pułaski, which have served in the Polish fleet since the early 2000s after two decades under the US flag. Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa has meanwhile opened talks on the possibility of ordering a fourth frigate, a sign that the Miecznik programme may grow beyond the three ships originally contracted.

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ORP Wicher program Miecznik PGZ Stocznia Wojenna Boabarge 33 wodowanie fregaty

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