Retired Albania Submarines Up for Sale

Tirana | 05 March 2010 |

Russian Whiskey Class Submarines

The Albanian government announced on Thursday that it has put up for sale as scrap metal two retired Soviet made submarines – once the glory of its navy fleet.

The Albania navy once had four Soviet built Whiskey class submarines docked in the Pashaliman base in Southern Albania.

The subs were donated from the Soviet Union in 1958, three years before Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact and the Soviets abandoned the Pashaliman base.

Officially the submarines were retired in 1998, after they were looted a year earlier following the anarchy caused by Albania’s Ponzi scheme crisis.

Apart from the two subs that have gone on sale, one of the submarines sank in the Pashaliman base in 1997, while the remaining ship is to be transformed into a naval museum.