On 26th. October, Navantia christened the second of four ocean-going patrol boats for surveillance of the exclusive economic zone (POVZEE) at the company’s Puerto Real facility. The ship has been named “Warao” and her Godmother is Ms. Soledad Villafaña de Aniasi. The ceremony was attended by, among others, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Spain, Julián Isaís Rodríguez, the Head of the Venezuelan Naval Mission in Spain, Admiral Padrón, and on behalf of the Navantia, the Company Chairman, Aurelio Martínez and the General Manager of the San Fernando-Puerto Real Shipyard, Fernando Miguélez.
This ship, set afloat over the weekend, is the second of a series of four of the class that Navantia is building for the Venezuelan Navy. Building work started in September 2008 and the keel was laid on 12 May this year.
The Ocean-going Patrol Boats will be able to perform a variety of missions such as surveillance and protection of the exclusive economic zone, protection of maritime traffic, defence of strategic interests, search and rescue operations, support for other units and humanitarian actions, control of marine pollution, the fight against smuggling, drug trafficking and illegal immigratation, surveillance and gathering of operational and environmental intelligence, surface defence and passive electronic warfare.
The main characteristics of the POVZEE are:
- Length Overall: 98.90 m
- Maximum Beam: 13.60 m
- Depth to main deck: 7.20 m
- Design Draught: 3.80 m
- Displacement: 2,200 t
- Maximum speed: 25 knots
The contract for these four patrol boats and four littoral patrol boats, whose building will mean five million hours of work (1,456,900 for Navantia and 3,580,700 for auxiliary industry), was signed on 28 November 2005. Their delivery is scheduled to take place between November 2009 and July 2011.