The Eritrean Navy is a smaller branch of the Eritrean Defence Forces. It is responsible for the security of the entire coastline of Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

, more than 1,100 km, as well as the Eritrean territorial waters.

Naval ships

• Super Dvora Mk II Israel-6
• Osa-class missile boats
  Osa class missile boat
  The Project 205 Tsunami, more commonly known by their NATO reporting name Osa, are a class of missile boats developed for the Soviet Navy in the early 1960s. The Osas are probably the most numerous class of missile boats ever built, with over 400 vessels constructed for both the Soviet Navy and for...
  
  - 5 Osa II in service
• Swift ship PCs -3
• 35 Ton PCs  Eritrea-4
• Large Ex-German LCU -1
• T-4 class LCU -2
• EDIC class LCT -1
• Ashdod class LCT -1 status unknown.

History

The Eritrean Navy of today is said to have been an outgrowth of the Eritrean Liberation Front

Eritrean Liberation Front

The Eritrean Liberation Front was the main independence movement in Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and 1970s. In the very late 1950s unorganized political movement seeking independence was secretly active as small cells...

's sea transport operations early in the Eritrean War of Independence

Eritrean War of Independence

The Eritrean War of Independence was a conflict fought between the Ethiopian government and Eritrean separatists, both before and during the Ethiopian Civil War. The war started when Eritrea’s autonomy within Ethiopia, where troops were already stationed, was unilaterally revoked...

. This continued as a part of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front

Eritrean People's Liberation Front

The Eritrean People's Liberation Front was an armed organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as an intellectual left-wing group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front .-Background:...

 (EPLF) after the split of the organizations. After the Second Congress of the EPLF an offensive force was proposed and created with a base in Sudan.

These forces played a critical role at the Battle of Massawa

Battle of Massawa (1990)

The Second Battle of Massawa took place in 1990 in and around the coastal city of Massawa in Eritrea. This offensive was also dubbed the Fenkil Offensive and was conducted by both land and sea by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front against the Ethiopian Army.-The battle:Beginning on February...

 when they sunk several Ethiopian warships in the harbor. At the close of the Eritrean War of Independence the balance of the Ethiopian Navy

Ethiopian Navy

The Ethiopian Navy was a branch of the Ethiopian National Defense Force that existed from 1955 until 1991. It was disestablished after the independence of Eritrea, which left Ethiopia landlocked.-Founding of the navy:...

 was inherited by this Naval force.

Current issues

Since independence the Eritrean Navy has expanded its fleet of high-speed patrol boats. This branch of the Eritrean Defence Forces served with distinction under the command of then Commander Tewolde Kelati. The current Commander of the Eritrean Naval Forces is Major General Hummed Ahmed Karikare. The Eritrean Naval Forces Headquarters is in Massawa

Massawa

Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...

. The Eritrean Navy has a cooperation agreement with Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

Through Proclamation 104 the Eritrean Navy is empowered by the Ministry of the Fisheries to enforce fisheries-related laws on behalf of the Ministry.