BOGOTA - On March 30, national shipyard Cotecmar delivered a new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) to the Colombian Navy. The vessel, designated PZE-48, was formerly dubbed ARC Santander, but the name was changed to ARC Victoria for unknown reasons. The ship was christened in December 2016.
The new ship will conduct maritime interdiction, security and maritime traffic control, search and rescue, environmental control operations, and humanitarian aid missions. It can accommodate speed boats and helicopters to support in these roles.
Construction of the first in the OPV-80 class, the 20 de Julio, began in 2009 and was delivered in December 2011. The second in the class, the 7 de Agosto, was launched in September 2013 and accepted into service in March 2014. In December 2013, Cotecmar began the installation of Oto Melara twin 40L/70 compact Bitubo guns on the two vessels. The Navy intends to have four vessels in the class by the end of 2019 and eventually field a fleet of six or seven.
ARC Santander will feature several improvements compared to the two earlier vessels. It will feature a higher top speed, and better weapons. A larger hangar will support helicopters up to 10 tons as well.
In addition to domestic contracts, Colombia is pushing export of the OPV-80. Honduras recently ordered one of the vessels to be delivered in 2018.
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