Cold War history: Pashaliman was the only Soviet base in the Mediterranean in the 1950s. It was the hot spot of conflict between the Soviets and the Albanians in 1961 when Albania pulled out of the Warsaw Pact and the dispute of the four Whiskey-class submarine ownership which Albania had seized. Following the collapse of the Communist regime, the base was rebuilt by Turkey and under a bilateral agreement the Turkish Navy has the right to use it.
Modern history: Albania’s Kronshtadt-class submarine chaser cruising off of Pashaliman. Three of the Albanian Navy’s four Damen Stan patrol vessels were built at Pashaliman, the most recent completed in 2014. Currently, one retired Whiskey-class submarines previously owned by the Soviet Union are still located on the facility alongside Albania’s active-duty naval vessels. The Naval Force often operates naval exercises in the Bay of Vlorë, out of Pashaliman.
