Russian naval facility in Tartus | |
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720-й ПМТО ВМФ России в Сирии | |
Part of the Russian Navy | |
Map of the Tartus Syrian Naval Base (Russian piers (5) off northern breakwater, most of the balance of facility — numbered buildings — within the dashed line belongs to the Syrian Navy)
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Coordinates | 34°54′54″N 35°52′26″E / 34.915°N 35.874°E |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Russian Ministry of Defence |
Condition | Minimally manned by civilian contractors |
Site history | |
Built | 1971 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Currently maintained by civilian contractors only (4 servicemen stationed circa 2012) |
The Russian naval facility in Tartus is a leased military installation of the Russian Navy located in the port of the city of Tartus, Syria. Russian official usage classifies the installation as a Material-Technical Support Point (Russian: Пункт материально-технического обеспечения, ПМТО) and not a "base". Tartus is the Russian Navy's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment spot, sparing Russia’s warships the trip back to their Black Sea bases through the Turkish Straits.
Tartus hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance facility, under a 1971 agreement with Ba'athist Syria, which was—until the second year of the Syrian Civil War—staffed by Russian naval personnel. Most recently, the facility hosts the Amur class floating workshop PM-138, capable of providing technical maintenance to Russian warships deployed in the Mediterranean.
The Tartus facility can accommodate four medium-sized vessels only if both of its 100 m floating piers, inside of the northern breakwater, are operational. It is not capable of hosting any of the Russian Navy's current major warships which range in length from the 129 m Neustrashimyy class frigate through the 163 m Udaloy class destroyer, much less cruisers such as the 186.4 m Slava class and the 252 m Kirov class, or the 305 m Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier.
In January 2017, Russia and Syria signed agreements to extend Russia's control of its facility for 49 years and give it sovereignty over the territory. It allows Russia to dredge, install floating berths, and carry out repair works to expand its capacity to 11 warships, including nuclear-powered ships.