Construction starts on Turkish Navy’s next-gen minehunting vessel

September 23, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

The construction has started on the Turkish Navy’s next-generation minehunting vessel (YMAG), Turkish shipbuilder Dearsan Shipyard revealed.

As informed, the shipyard successfully carried out the first steel cutting ceremony for the vessel on September 19, 2025. The event was attended by high-ranking representatives from the Turkish Naval Forces and the Presidency of Defense Industries.

The YMAG program represents a leap forward in naval engineering, incorporating modern technologies and capabilities, according to Dearsan. The vessel is designed to enhance maritime security and defense operations, employing advanced unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and underwater autonomous vehicles (UAVs) to detect and neutralize threats at sea.

“This special shipbuilding project is not only the beginning of the construction of a vessel, but also a symbol of our national engineering competence, self-confidence, and determination to maintain dominance at sea,” the company stated.

Reportedly, Dearsan signed a contract with Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı (SSB) – Secretariat of Defence Industries in August 2024 to build a new-generation mine countermeasure vessel.

To remind, in March last year, Dearsan signed an agreement with the Qatari Emiri Navy for the construction of two units of 50-meter fast attack craft.