OPV-80 “A.R.C. 20 de Julio” EEZ Patrol Vessel
Two Fassmer OPV80 vessels have already been commissioned and orders for two additional batches are expected soon (three vessels by 2019 and two more by 2030). Thanks to the support of the Navy’s Command and that of the National Government, in January 2012 Cotecmar completed the biggest and most complex ship ever built in the nation’s history at a value of 130 billion pesos (US$70 million). COTECMAR obtained a licence from Fassmer to build the 1,723-ton OPV-80 in 2007. The Colombian Navy placed an order on 20 October 2011 for a second OPV-80 offshore patrol vessel (OPV) from the government-run COTECMAR shipyards in Cartagena. The navy expects to acquire four OPV-80s by 2019.
Chile was the first country to order two OPV 80s from Fassmer. These large offshore patrol vessels have numerous exceptional seakeeping characteristics and set numerous new standards in this area. The advanced hull design makes the vessel fully seagoing and ideal for multi-functional tasks in naval and coastal missions. A special deck layout features the helicopter landing platform and a big rescue zone. The vessel can accomodate up to 100 persons and has a maximum speed of 25 knots. The Colombian OPV-80 differs from the standard version in that it is powered by two Wärtsilä 6 L 26 engines instead of the standard 12 V 26 engines.
In December 2007 in the framework of the process of modernization and strengthening of the National Navy coast guard force, the Ministry of national defense of Colombia, signed a contract with the Corporation of science and technology for the development of the Naval industry, maritime and river - COTECMAR-for construction, in Colombia of an exclusive economic zone type OPV Patrullero ship.
In turn, in February 2008, having as reference the technical requirements defined by the Navy, COTECMAR, through a process of international closed invitation, addressed the selection process required for the construction of the ship, offering to "Licensing the design, technical assistance and supply of parts, equipment and materials" type OPV. COTECMAR conducted market studies, with quotes and technical specifications of the shipyards of Israel, Germany, Holland, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Chile, Korea, Canada, among others.
The selection process is finished in the month of August 2008, month in which signed four contracts with German FASSMER GMBH, who currently provides the licensing of the design, technical services, technical assistance and the necessary package of materials for the construction of the vessel in Cartagena. Negotiations carried out during this process, as well as the activities of contractual performance, have been developed directly by signing FASSMER GMBH.
The construction project of the “A.R.C. 20 de Julio” Exclusive Economic Zone Patrol Vessel, whose hull bears the number 46, started in March 2009 and involved, including direct and indirect employees, over 2,500 Colombian nationals. The ship was named “20 de Julio" with the purpose of joining in the celebratory events of Colombia's Independence Bicentennial. This OPV-Type Vessel is the Navy’s second unit to have been given this name, as the first one was the “A.R.C. 20 de Julio" Destroyer, built in Malmo, Sweden, back in 1958.
“A.R.C. 20 de Julio" is the first ocean unit built in Colombia by domestic labor and in compliance with all applicable international standards and regulations; besides, it is the first Colombian naval unit certified and classified, both in terms of design and construction, by a first order international Classification Society such as Germanischer Lloyd, based in Germany.
“A.R.C. 20 de Julio” represents a step further in Colombia’s technological independence by means of the construction of its own warfare units with the purpose of reinforcing the Nation’s security and defense. This characteristic, shared only by a select group of countries in the world, translates into practice as the transfer of high level technology, thus greatly contributing to Colombia’s economic and technological growth.
The second generation of OPV’s will be outfitted with sensors and weapons that will increase their security capability on behalf of the nation’s maritime interests. Cotecmar has already started the construction process of the second OPV, which shall go into service by December, 2013.
The construction of Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV) in Colombia, which can be adapted, in terms of characteristics, to the operational needs and demands that the National Navy’s strategy has defined so that the Coast Guard Corps may continue fulfilling its mission efficiently and so that all investments as well as the offshore and coastline growth can be insured in the short and mid terms.
This project, as of its first few days, positively leveraged and influenced over Cartagena City’s social and economical growth as well as that of the Colombian Caribbean Region and the Nation at large. In building this ship, nearly 300 direct work posts and 1500 indirect work posts were generated over the course of the vessel’s construction and, to this date, with all due patriotic pride, the Colombian Navy can now say that it counts on a sea unit entirely built by means of domestic labor.
Staff training was one of the key factors of the project’s success. Colombian professionals, naval architects and engineers, mechanics, designers, draftsmen and others, with graduate diplomas from Spain, the U.K., Brazil and the U.S., were signed into the process of the ship’s design and construction. They managed to build innovative processes into the construction strategy and incorporated world class technology in various processes ranging from automation, electric and hydraulic systems, all the way down to naval welding processes.
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