COTECMAR launches new OPV

[Zarvan]

Santander, seen here in October 2016 under construction at COTECMAR's shipyard in Cartagena, is the third OPV-80 produced for the Colombian Navy and is based on a Fassmer design. Source: Erwan de Cherisey

Colombia's Corporación de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo de la Industria Naval, Marítima y Fluvial (COTECMAR) launched its ARC Santander offshore patrol vessel (OPV) during an official ceremony presided by President Juan Manuel Santos in Cartagena on 1 December.

Construction began in December 2014 for the vessel, which is based on German shipbuilder Fassmer's OPV-80 design. The new OPV is 80 m long and displaces 1,725 tonnes.

Captain Freddy Zarate, engineering manager at COTECMAR, told IHS Jane's in October that Santander is the third OPV-80 to be built by COTEMAR, after ARC 20 de Julio and ARC 7 de Agosto . However, he noted that while the first two are both armed with 40 mm cannons, and Santander is equipped with a 76 mm Oto Melara Super Rapid main gun.

Santander is fitted with more powerful engines than its two sister ships and has a maximum speed of 21 kt instead of 18 kt, Capt Zarate said. Its helicopter landing pad has also been strengthened and lengthened in order to accommodate a 10-tonne helicopter, such as the Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk type that the navy has shown increased interest in. Unlike its sister ships, however, Santander has no capability for transporting personnel as that space is occupied by fitting the 76 mm gun.

According to Santos, Santander will patrol Colombia's Caribbean and Pacific waters and will be used in maritime interdiction, and search-and-rescue and peacekeeping operations.

A COTECMAR source said the vessel is expected to be complete by March 2017, when it will be commissioned into the Colombian Navy.

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