TSAMTO, December 29. Admiral Jorge Wilson, Commander of the Uruguayan Navy, signed a letter accepting a proposal for the gratuitous transfer of three Protector-class boats from the US Coast Guard within the framework of the intergovernmental agreement between the United States and Uruguay.
According to the US Embassy in Montevideo, the signing of the documents took place on December 15.
The boats (WPB-87309) "Albacore", (WPD-87329) "Cochito" and (WPB-87334) "Genit" were adopted by the US Coast Guard between 1999 and 2009. The initial cost of the boats was $14.361 million, the current residual value is $8.685 million.
Negotiations on the possibility of supplying boats have been conducted since June 2020. Uruguay will receive the boats themselves free of charge, but, in accordance with US law, it must pay $ 4,986 million for their repair and training of Navy personnel.
After agreeing on the terms of the grant, the United States will continue work on the conversion of three boats. After the training of the Uruguayan crews, the boats will be transferred to the Uruguayan Navy.
According to Jennifer Savage, Charge d'affaires of the US Embassy, in July she took part in an assessment of the condition of the ships. The "oldest" of them has been in operation for only 20 years and is being withdrawn from service for reasons of cost savings, and not because of the expiration of its service life.
Uruguay became one of the first countries in the world to request such a grant. If the work is carried out in accordance with the schedule, by the end of 2022, the boats will already be used to ensure safety at sea in the territorial waters of Uruguay.
As reported by TSAMTO, the boats received from the US Coast Guard are planned to be placed in the west of the country, where a naval base should be established in Fry Bentos.
The boats of the Protector class have long been the backbone of the patrol forces of the US Coast Guard. In total, 74 boats of the series were built to perform patrol tasks from 1999 to 2009. In 2020, their planned replacement with Sentinel-class boats began.
The length of the Protector class boat built by Bollinger Shipyards on the basis of Damen's Stan 2600 project is 26.5 m (87 ft), the maximum width is 5.92 m, displacement is 91 tons, crew is 10 people. It is equipped with two MTU 8V 396 TE94 diesel engines and develops a maximum speed of 25 knots, a cruising range of 900 nautical miles. The armament consists of two 12.7 mm machine guns. Each boat is equipped with a rigid hull inflatable dinghy (RHIB).
