U.S Donated Island-Class Patrol Boats Commissioned Into Tunisian Navy

The U.S is supporting Tunisia in responding to the security situation and the immigrant crisis in North Africa.

Recently, the U.S donated two Island Class Patrol Boats, earlier a part of the U.S. Coast Guard Fleet for years before they were decommissioned.

They were commissioned into the Tunisian Navy on April 17, 2025, at an event at La Goulette Naval Base close to Tunis.

The ceremony marked a major milestone in U.S. and Tunisia’s defence cooperation and happened during a port visit by the USS Mount Whitney, flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet.

The ships would help Tunisia deal with smuggling, crime, illegal immigration, human trafficking and terrorism.

Now called Tazarga and Menzel Bourguiba, the 34 m ships were part of the Island Class, constructed between 1985 and 1992 for the U.S. Coast Guard.

One of their major missions was fighting the war on drugs and being a part of missions like search and rescue, military operations, fisheries enforcement, etc.

This class is now being replaced by the Sentinel-class patrol boats.

Today, most of the boats have retired, but they serve in the navies and coast guard fleets of allies and partner nations such as Costa Rica, Pakistan, Greece, Georgia and Ukraine.

The U.S said that the donation of the two ships would help Tunisia to secure its maritime borders and bolster regional maritime security.

The ships have two diesel engines and can attain a speed of 30 knots and have a range of more than 3000 nm, which is ideal for patrolling the Tunisian coastline.

Each patrol boat has a 25 mm Mk 38 machine gun and two .50 caliber machine guns and features advanced radar and navigation systems.

Recently, the U.S has donated 4 Textron C-208EX aircraft and six C-130 military aircraft to the Tunisian Air Force.

References: Global Tender News

Source: Maritime Shipping News