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Colombia builds first ocean-going warship

ARC 20 de Julio already sailing the Caribbean.

By Santiago Burgos for Infosurhoy.com – 13/08/2010

The ARC 20 de Julio is the first ocean-going warship built in Colombia. (Courtesy of Cotecmar)

CARTAGENA, Colombia – The first ocean-going warship built in Colombia already is patrolling the Caribbean.

The ARC 20 de Julio, built at the national shipyards by the Science and Technology Corporation for the Naval, Maritime and Riverine Industries (Cotecmar), set sail to mark the Cartagena-based company’s 10-year anniversary.

The primary purpose of the largest ship ever constructed in Colombia is simple: go after drug dealers – and go after them hard.

The 1,720-ton and 80-meter long ship, which also can be used as a hub for search and rescue missions, is so massive it has the capacity to carry a mid-sized helicopter and a motorboat that can be used to pursue suspected traffickers on elusive go-fast boats.

Construction for the ship, commissioned by the Ministry of Defense and the National Navy, started on March 3, 2009. It was design resembled those of the Offshore Patrol Vessel Fassmer 80, owned by Fassmer, a German shipbuilder, but were adapted to the Navy’s particular needs and to conditions on the Caribbean Sea, said Rear Admiral (UH) Daniel Iriarte Alvira, the president of Cotecmar.

With a weight of 1,720 tons and a length of 80 meters, the ARC 20 de Julio is the largest ship ever built in Colombia. (Courtesy of Cotecmar)

ARC 20 de Julio also has an increased range and better operational flexibility, and requires a smaller crew and less fuel than the Offshore Patrol Vessel Fassmer 80. Navy Captain Jorge Carreño Moreno, Cotecmar’s vice president, said one of the company’s greatest challenges is designing and building ships to replace the National Navy’s current fleet.

“The program for the design and construction of vessels for the river ways is our most successful program, to the point that we set the standard in that field throughout the world,” said Carreño Moreno.

The name of the newly christened ship was inherited from the destroyer ARC 20 de Julio, built in 1958 in Malmo, Sweden. The destroyer remained in active service for almost 30 years, and during the 1950s it was regarded as one of the most powerful ships in all of Latin America.

Cotecmar being able to celebrate its 10-year anniversary also is no small achievement. The company has designed, built or modernized more than 50 merchant, research and naval vessels, including tugboats, oceanography research boats, submarines and vessels customized for combat.

Cotecmar also restored the century-old ship used in the filming of Love in the Time of Cholera, based on the novel by author Gabriel García Márquez.

But Cotecmar is more than just a shipyard – it’s a science and technology company that partners with the National Navy, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad del Norte de Barranquilla and Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar.

“[Cotecmar’s] entire capacity and infrastructure is aimed at building knowledge through research, development and innovation applied to industrial processes,” said Carreño Moreno.

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