Portugal signed a contract for sale from four coastal patrol vessels to Dominican Republic for 24 million euros, which can be complemented with additional options in systems and equipment, the Portuguese Ministry of Defense reported in a statement this Thursday.
The sale this will be formalized Friday with a ceremony and a press conference in which the defense minister of Portugal, Nuno Meloand his Dominican counterpart, Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernandez Onofre, in the São João Baptista fort, in Porto.
The agreement includes a integrated program transfer of capabilities, which includes actions of maintenance and modernizationsupply of ammunition and spare parts, technical documentation, training and training of crews and management teams, in order to guarantee the full operation of the ships serving the Dominican Navy.
Phased delivery
The delivery of the vessels will be carried out in phases, with the first ship within a period of 12 months after the completion of the logistics phase, and the remaining maximum deadlines of 20, 30 and 40 months, respectively.
- The ‘Tejo’ class ships are multi-purpose units, about 50 meters in length and a displacement of 345 tonsin service in the Portuguese Navy since 2016.
They are intended for patrol missions and maritime surveillancecontrol of waters under national jurisdiction, as well as search and rescue and maritime safetyspecified the Portuguese Defense portfolio.
Abinader announced the buys he last year
On June 16, last yearduring his meeting with the LA Semanal press, the president Luis Abinader announced the intention of its administrator to acquire the ships, to “patrol the Dominican seas and combat drug trafficking.”
“A year ago we were in Portugaland from that visit, we managed to reach an agreement to acquire at least two, perhaps four high seas patrol boats, which we did not have in mind. Dominican Republic. They use it to combat drug trafficking and we will also use it for that,” Abinader explained, and reported that the agreement was going to be signed that same week.
However, it was this Thursday that it was announced that it will be tomorrow Friday that will materialize transaction.
