With the christening and commissioning of the deep-sea patrol boat \u201e24 de Julio\u201c, Colombia has successfully completed a shipbuilding project that envisaged the completely national production of a 90-metre OPV. Following the licensed construction of the German Fassmer-OPV-80 at the end of the last decade and the successful collaboration with the Dutch Damen shipyard in the development of the five SIGMA-10514 frigates, the state-owned shipyard COTECMAR and the Colombian Navy have developed and built their own ship type from both designs. Although both design lines are easily recognisable, this construction qualifies Colombia as the third nation in Latin America that can manage such a project on a purely national basis.<\/p>\n
Launched in 2023, the 93-metre, 2,400-tonne vessel was already 90% when it was launched in the middle of last year, enabling it to be handed over at the beginning of this year and swiftly put into service at the end of March. The Colombian Ocean Patrol Vessel (POC) with improved endurance and surveillance capacity is needed to combat the increasingly professionalised drug smuggling both along the Pacific coast and in Colombia's extensive waters in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
With artillery armament up to 76mm, a helicopter hangar or drone deck up to 11 tonnes and a high capacity for embarked or rescued persons, this platform is tailor-made for the Colombian Navy's undisclosed main task: anti-drug missions. The country is to be congratulated on this remarkable shipbuilding success. Enhorabuena!<\/p>\n