National Coast Guard Service
Servicio de Nacional Guardia Costa (SNGC)
Costa Rica's Exclusive Economic Zone straddles major ocean smuggling routes to the US from South America. In 1999, Costa Rica was the first Central American nation to sign a bilateral maritime agreement with the U.S. to allow for joint patrols. For domestic political reasons, the GOCR has found it politically impossible to sign an Article 98 agreement with the US.
In modern times the Costa Rican Coast Guard, established as a branch of the Guardia Civil in 1949, had a single sea-going patrol boat on each coast (Caribbean and Pacific) along with some smaller shallow water vessels with outboard motors. In 1989 it gained their most advanced ship, the former 95-foot patrol boat USCGC Cape Henlopen (WPB-95328) which served as Astronauta Franklin Chang Diaz (SP 951) until 2001 and was later sunk as a reef. Diaz was augmented in 1991 by a surplus USCG Point-class cutter, the 82-foot Colonel Alfonso Monje (SP 82-1) (ex-USCGC Point Hope (WPB-82302)) and in 2001 by SNGC Juan Rafael Mora (SP 82-2) (ex-USCGC Point Chico (WPB-82339)). Costa Rica's maritime region saw record cocaine seizures in 2006 but the Costa Rican Coast Guard was frequently unable to respond to actionable intelligence of vessels known to be carrying drugs, even within 20 miles of shore, due to a lack of patrol boat readiness.
The Costa Rican Coast Guard is generally weak on maintenance issues. For example, there is no implemented maintenance or inventory system that has resulted in equipment failure or loss. However, with SOUTHCOM funding, the US funded the construction of a new coast guard station in the Pacific port of Caldera. This facility included a maintenance center. Additionally, the US had several Mobile Training Teams (MTTs) conduct maintenance training. Continued MTTs for maintenance and subject matter exchanges will help address this concern. Additional weaknesses in their coast guard include the lack of qualified operations officers to conduct maritime missions and low pay with a high cost of living. Affecting all police forces, low pay can provide an environment of corruption.
Merida-purchased boats were critical for keeping the SNGC operating in their littoral waters, where the majority of drug-running go-fasts operate in the Eastern Pacific along Costa Rican's coastline.
The Ministry of Public Security named a new coast guard commander in 2007. The new leadership aggressively addressed the serious deficiencies that have plagued the readiness of the Costa Rican coast guard through surveys prioritizing the most pressing needs, improving discipline and pride in service, repair primary interception vessels, moving assets to intercept Pacific based traffickers and addressing electronic communications problems.
As of 2007 the Caribbean "fleet" consisted of one 25-foot Eduardono-type boat with only one (of two) engines fully operational and one 12-foot Boston-whaler type river patrol boat. Putting the 65-foot patrol boat in operation, which had been out of service since October 2006 due to the lack of spare parts and old, unreliable engines, would greatly enhance Costa Rica's ability to patrol its Caribbean waters and work with US assets under the Bilateral Maritime Agreement. Two new engines, electronics, navigation, communications and radar equipment and a repaired/replaced hull on the GOCR's 65-foot patrol boat in Limon would provide Costa Rica with patrol capability on its Caribbean coast.
Costa Rican Coast Guard's (SNGC) 2007 "fleet" of medium to large-size patrol boats (three 82-footers and two 65-footers) were aging (some approaching over 35 years of service between US and SNGC usage) and needed to be replaced, eventually. Acquiring these more modern and much faster craft, which would give the SNGC the capability to intercept drug-running "go-fasts" as well as to stop and board other vessels, was a good place to start, and would be a smarter investment in the short-term. Even refurbished, the existing SNGC patrol boats cannot easily intercept smaller, faster drug runners.
Major maintenance and needed upgrades for the three 82-foot patrol boats were overdue, to the point that one boat was inoperable and the safe operation of the other two would be in question. Replacing and modernizing all the electronics on two of the SNGC's 82-foot patrol boats would include the navigation, communications, and radar systems (which would provide night-time operating capability) on board. Their current electronics gear on board was at least 20 years out of date and often does not operate due to lack of spare parts. Replacing this gear enhances the SNGC's surveillance capabilities and thus improving Costa Rica's contribution to regional counter narcotics and counter trafficking efforts.
Refitting the inoperable Coast Guard 105-ft patrol boat ($2.5M) would include two new engines, hull repair, and upgrade and replacement of all electronic (navigation, communications, radar) systems. Although less of a priority than refitting the 82-foot and 65-foot assets (and the purchase of four Midnight-Express type boats), putting this largest patrol craft into operation would greatly enhance Costa Rica's maritime capabilities (to include the ability to conduct fisheries patrols), enabling the SNGC to operate as far offshore as Cocos Island (250 miles from the Pacific coast).
The U.S. government donated two surplus Island-class cutter patrol boats with a total value of $18.9 million to the Costa Rica Coast Guard (Guarda Costas). US Assistant Secretary William Brownfield of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs announced the donation following a meeting with President Luis Guillermo Solís at Casa Presidencial.
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