GORINCHEM, the Netherlands (BulgarianMilitary.com), July 2, 2018, Author: Galina Zdravkova, Photo credit: Damen

Damen Shipyards Group, headquartered in Gorinchem, the western Netherlands, announced on 26th June 2018 that the company is presently working together with the Mexican Navy, via the Directorate General of Shipbuilding, on building the most technologically advanced vessel in Latin America – the Long Range Ocean Patrol (abbreviated POLA from its initials in Spanish), learned BulgarianMilitary.com

The POLA will be the Mexican variant of Damen SIGMA 10514, which has shown excellent performance worldwide.

Through this Project knowledge will be transferred to the Mexican shipbuilding industry. However, as decided by both Damen and the Mexican Navy, the building of two of the six modules of the vessel will be carried out at Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The rest four modular sections will be constructed in Mexico in cooperation with Damen.

A representative of Damen commented, “In this way, for the most part, the vessel will be built for Mexico, in Mexico, by Mexicans.”

Currently a team from Mexico is in the Netherlands for supervising the building of the modules in Europe and receiving know-how.

The first of the modules from the Netherlands is already in Mexico and is being integrated by a Mexican team with two of the modular sections constructed in Salina Cruz.

Only after 15 months after the signing of the contract, the hull is finished and is in drydock, waiting to receive the other 3 superstructure modules.

The Long Range Ocean Patrol vessel flagging ceremony is scheduled to take place at the end of this year in November. After that event, next year, a full integrated process of setting to work, commissioning, training, tests and trials will follow.

The length of the POLA vessel will be 107 m with a beam of 14 m. It will be able to reach speeds of up to 25+ knots and spent more than 20 days at sea.

“This vessel will be capable of carrying out various missions such as safeguarding Mexican sovereignty, international security cooperation, long range search and rescue operations and humanitarian aid. POLA will allow the Mexican state to increase its surveillance coverage and the protection of Mexican maritime interests beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone,” stated a representative of Damen Shipyards Group.

BulgarianMilitary.com