Yugoslav auxiliary Ugor

Last updated
History
Naval Ensign of Yugoslavia (1949-1993).svgSFR Yugoslavia
NameUgor
Namesake Conger eel
Builder BSO Split
Yard number517
Completed1983
Decommissioned1992
Out of service1998
FateSold into merchant service
Flag of Montenegro.svgMontenegro
Name
  • Kairos I
  • Boka Star
  • Star
Out of service2002
Identification IMO number:  8929367
FateBroken up 2012
General characteristics
Displacement600 t (590 long tons) standard, 860 t (850 long tons) full load
Length58.20 m (190 ft 11 in)
Beam11.00 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draught2.75 m (9 ft 0 in)
Installed power2,600 kW (3,480 bhp)
Propulsion
  • 2 shafts
  • 2 diesel engines
Speed16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range1,500 nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Capacity
  • 150 fully armed troops
  • Six tanks
Complement43
Armament

Ugor (PO-92) was a PO-class logistic transport ship of the Yugoslav Navy, built in 1983 and classed as an ammunition auxiliary. Later sold into merchant service, the ship traded under Montenegrin ownership with the names Kairos I and Boka Star. She was seized in 2002 by the Croatian authorities for arms smuggling and later demolished as Star.

Contents

Characteristics

Ugor was 58.20 metres (190 ft 11 in) long, with a beam of 11.00 metres (36 ft 1 in) and a mean draught of 2.75 metres (9 ft 0 in). Displacement was 600 tonnes (590 long tons) standard and 860 tonnes (850 long tons) full load. Two B&W-Alpha diesel engines with a total rating of 2,600 kilowatts (3,480 bhp) drove two shafts, giving a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). [1] The ship had a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). The ship was of Ro-Ro configuration, fitted with a bow visor and bow ramp to aid loading and unloading of vehicles, and with two slewing cranes on the upper deck. The main cargo deck could accommodate up to six tanks, while 150 fully armed troops could be carried in addition to the ship's crew of 43. [2]

Built in 1983, Ugor (PO-92) was the second ship, after Lubin (PO-91) and before Kit (PO-93), in a class of three small multi-role transport ships, known as the Lubin class by NATO. [2] [3] Designed by Brodoprojekt Rijeka, she was built for the Yugoslav Navy as Yard No.517 at the BSO-Brodosplit shipyard, Split. [1] [3] Their primary function was the replenishing of warships of the Yugoslav Navy with weapons, and as such were designated PO (Serbian : Pomoćni oružar - Ammunition Auxiliary). [2]

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991–1992, Ugor remained part of the Yugoslav Navy though, together with Lubin, the ship was laid up. In 1996 they were reported as transferred to Montenegro for scrapping or commercial use. [4]

Merchant service

In commercial service, she served under Montenegrin ownership, initially as Kairos I and from 1997 as Boka Star, initially under the Belize flag. [1] After being re-flagged to Tonga in January 2002, and under the ownership of Shipstar Shipping Services, itself owned by a Montenegrin, Marko Balić, the ship was involved in an arms-smuggling controversy. [1] [5] [6]

Seizure

On 22 October 2002, Boka Star was seized by Croatian authorities at the port of Rijeka, following a tip-off from American intelligence, on suspicion that the ship was being used for arms smuggling. The ship's cargo, loaded at Bar, Montenegro, included 14 transport containers of chemical pellets, declared as activated carbon and water filters, which was in fact 208,337 kilograms (459,304 lb) of explosives, consisting of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. [7] The captain and chief officer of Boka Star were acquitted, but Balić was found guilty in absentia of smuggling arms and issuing forged documents, and sentenced to six years in prison. [8] Following his arrest in Greece and appeal to the Croatian Supreme Court in 2014, he was released from prison and his previous sentence was dismissed as the original judgement was ruled to be invalid. The charges were reduced to those of a customs violation and he is awaiting retrial. [9]

Sale

The ship was sold by Balić in 2003 to the Esprite Shipping Corporation, based in the Marshall Islands, but the continuing legal proceedings resulted in the ship being kept under control of the court and being towed to Pula military port. Eventually, in 2011, Boka Star was sold at auction to the Croatian company Splitska Plovibda, [10] but resold for scrapping in Aliağa, Turkey as the Togo-flagged Star in February 2012. [1] [11]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Star". Sea-Web (subscription required). IHS-Global. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Prézelin and Baker 1990, p. 941.
  3. 1 2 "BSO - Review of Delivered Vessels since 1980" (PDF). Brodosplit. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  4. Baker 1998, p. 1169.
  5. Connections. Partnership for Peace. Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes. 6: 81.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Arrest warrant for Boka Star owner". Journal of Commerce. United Business Media. 31 October 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  7. "IZJAVA ZA JAVNOST - kaznene prijave protiv odgovornih za brod Boka Star". Croatian Ministry of the Interior. 30 October 2002. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  8. Komunikacije, Neomedia. "Za krijumčarenje 208 tona baruta na brodu Boka Star šest godina zatvora / Novi list". Novilist (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  9. "Sudska praksa VSRH" (in Croatian). Croatian Supreme Court. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  10. "MORH posvaja brod Boka Star?". JutarnjiList. 5 February 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  11. "Ugor". Miramar Ship Index (subscription required). R G Haworth, New Zealand. Retrieved 24 November 2015.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian Navy</span> Military unit

The Croatian Navy is a branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1991 from what Croatian forces managed to capture from the Yugoslav Navy during the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatian War of Independence. In addition to mobile coastal missile launchers, today it operates 30 vessels, divided into the Navy Flotilla for traditional naval duties, and the Croatian Coast Guard. Five missile boats form the Croatian fleet's main offensive capability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yugoslav Navy</span> Naval warfare branch of former state of Yugoslavia

The Yugoslav Navy, was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the mission of preventing enemy landings along Yugoslavia's rugged 4,000-kilometer shoreline or coastal islands, and contesting an enemy blockade or control of the strategic Strait of Otranto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Barracks</span> Part of the Croatian War of Independence

The Battle of the Barracks was a series of engagements that occurred in mid-to-late 1991 between the Croatian National Guard and the Croatian police on one side and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) on the other. The battle took place around numerous JNA posts in Croatia, starting when Croatian forces blockaded the JNA barracks, weapons storage depots and other facilities. It formally began on 14 September; its objective was to neutralise the JNA positions in ZNG-held territory and to secure arms and ammunition supplies for the poorly equipped ZNG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brodosplit</span> Croatian shipyard

Brodosplit is the largest shipyard in Croatia, located in the Supaval bay, on the north side of the Split peninsula.

HMS Kingfisher (P260) was a Bird-class patrol vessel of the British Royal Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian Coast Guard</span>

The Croatian Coast Guard is a division of the Croatian Navy responsible for protecting the interests of the Republic of Croatia at sea. The Croatian Navy is composed of classical naval forces structured into a flotilla and the Coast Guard that solely consists of ships with peacetime duties, e.g. protection of ecology, fishing, control of tankers, ballast waters, combat against terrorism, trafficking of people, narcotics, and similar.

Yugoslav training ship <i>Galeb</i> Presidential yacht and training ship of Yugoslavia

Yugoslav Navy (JRM) training ship Galeb, also known as The Peace Ship Galeb, was used as an official yacht by the late President of the Yugoslav Republic, Marshal Josip Broz Tito. The ship attained an iconic status among the peoples of Yugoslavia in this role, as well as among the many diverse nations and members of the Non-Aligned Movement. "Galeb" is Croatian for "seagull".

<i>Kotor</i>-class frigate Class of frigates built for Yugoslav navy

The Kotor class are a pair of light frigates built for the Yugoslav Navy during the 1980s at the Kraljevica Shipyard in SR Croatia.

The history of the Croatian Navy can be traced from the Middle Ages until modern times. See List of admirals of Croatia

Yugoslav frigate <i>Split</i> First frigate of the Yugoslavian Navy

Split was a Koni-class frigate in service with the Yugoslav Navy (JRM). Laid down and completed during the late 1970s as Sokol of the Soviet Navy, it was the fourth ship of a class that was being built by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard primarily for export to various friendly navies. The ship was acquired by the JRM in 1980 and commissioned as Split, becoming the second ship in JRM service to be named after the city of Split. It was soon followed by a second Koni-class hull, Koper (VPBR-32), commissioned in the JRM in 1982. Designated as a Large Patrol Boat by the JRM, Split's original armament consisting of naval guns, anti-submarine rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles was further improved by the addition of four P-20 anti-ship missiles, making it the most versatile ship in the JRM inventory at the time.

<i>Končar</i>-class missile boat Class of missile boats built for Yugoslav navy

The Končar class is a class of six missile boats built for the Yugoslav Navy during the late 1970s at Tito's Shipyard Kraljevica, SR Croatia. The boats featured a mixture of Western and Eastern European equipment, including Soviet anti-ship missiles and Swedish guns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istrian Italians</span> Ethnic group in Europe

Istrian Italians are an ethnic group from the Adriatic region of Istria in modern northwestern Croatia and southwestern Slovenia. Istrian Italians descend from the original Latinized population of Roman Histria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who colonized the region during the time of the Republic of Venice, and from the local Croatian people who culturally assimilated.

The Battle of the Dalmatian Channels was a three-day confrontation between three tactical groups of Yugoslav Navy ships and coastal artillery, and a detachment of naval commandos of the Croatian Navy fought on 14–16 November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. On 14 November, the commandos torpedoed the Mirna-class patrol boat PČ-176 Mukos close to the island of Brač in the Split Channel of the Adriatic Sea, prompting a Yugoslav naval bombardment of Brač and Šolta Island the same day. The drifting Mukos was salvaged by Croatian civilian boats and beached at Nečujam bay.

In the aftermath of the First World War, the Adriatic question or Adriatic problem concerned the fate of the territories along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea that formerly belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The roots of the dispute lay in the secret Treaty of London, signed during the war, and in growing nationalism, especially Italian irredentism and Yugoslavism, which led ultimately to the creation of Yugoslavia. The question was a major barrier to agreement at the Paris Peace Conference, but was partially resolved by the Treaty of Rapallo between Italy and Yugoslavia on 12 November 1920.

<i>Una</i>-class submarine Yugoslav Navys Una-class submarine

The Una-class submarine was a class of six midget submarines built for the Yugoslav Navy at the Brodogradilište specijalnih objekata during the 1980s. They were designed with the purpose of laying small minefields and transporting naval special forces, with or without their submersibles, in shallow waters that were inaccessible for larger submarines. Due to their mission profile that called for a small design as well as the need to stay undetected, they lacked torpedo armament and a generator for battery recharging.

<i>R-2 Mala</i>-class swimmer delivery vehicle 2-man wet sub swimmer delivery vehicle class of the Yugoslavian, and later, Croatian, Navies

The R-2 Mala is a class of swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs) built for the Yugoslav, and later on, Croatian Navy. The two man wet SDVs are used for transporting naval commandos into hostile waters where they would perform sabotage on enemy warships and coastal installations. Weapons at their disposal included limpet mines.

The PO-class consists of three small multi-role transport ships. They were built for the Yugoslav Navy by indigenous design made by Brodoprojekt Rijeka in the early 1980s at the BSO shipyard, Split, known as the Lubin class by NATO. They had a primary function of replenishing warships of the Yugoslav Navy with weapons, and as such were designated PO, short for The first of class, Lubin (PO-91), remains in service, now in the Montenegrin Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian Confraternity Bokelj Navy 809.</span>

Croatian Confraternity Bokelj Navy 809 is a non-profit association which was established in 1924 in Zagreb. It preserves the twelve century-long tradition of the Bokeljs, people originating from Boka Kotorska. The Bokeljs lived along the bay under various authorities over the centuries, some of which were: the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Duklja (Dioclea), the Serbian Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia-Hungary, the Kingdom of Bosnia, the Republic of Venice, the Habsburg Empire, Yugoslavia, and Montenegro). They were famous seamen, naval heroes and explorers. Their members include Krsto Čorko, Tripun Luković, Petar Želalić and Božo Nikolić.

References