CARTAGENA, Colombia - Colombia's naval shipyard, Cotecmar, has delivered the first domestically-built CPV-46 coastal patrol vessel to the Colombian Navy.
The ship, the ARC-146 Punta Espada, was delivered on February 16 in the presence of Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon.
In February 2013, the Colombian Navy ordered two 250-ton CPV-46's from South Korea's STX Offshore and Shipbuilding. The contract included a technology transfer codicil which enabled Cotecmar to construct the Punta Espada in Colombia.
Construction of the Punta Espada began in November 2014. The vessel incorporates new navigation and weapons systems, including a DARET-THOR Dynamic T-25 remote weapons station, and a 25 mm Bushmaster M-242 cannon.
The vessel will be used for patrol missions, surveillance and interdiction roles, search and rescue operations, and to support border control efforts and refuel rapid reaction units.
Plans call for as many as 14 to be constructed eventually under the Navy's Orion II modernization program.
