Category Archives: South Atlantic

UK Deploys OPV to Guyana, gCaptain/Reuters

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The River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent (P224) passes the Vorontsov Lighthouse while arriving in Odesa, Ukraine to participate in Exercise Sea Breeze 2021, July 2, 2021. Exercise Sea Breeze is a multinational maritime exercise cohosted by the U.S. Sixth Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy since 1997. Sea Breeze 2021 is designed to enhance interoperability of participating nations and strengthens maritime security and peace in the region. (U.S. Navy photo by Damon Grosvenor/Released)

gCaptain reports,

Britain will deploy a naval ship off Guyana later this month, its ministry of defense said on Sunday, as the South American nation faces a border dispute with neighbor Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo region.

The deployment follows a visit by a British junior foreign minister to Guyana earlier this month, intended to offer the UK’s support for the country, an ally and former British colony.

We have talked about Venezuela’s claim on territory internationally recognized as part of Guyana. There is a recent BBC report here.

I found it interesting that the Royal Navy is sending an Offshore Patrol Vessel to this region of potential conflict. HMS Trent is about the size of a 270 and is armed with a 30mm gun in what is essentially the same mount the US Navy is calling the Mk38 Mod4.

It is likely 4th Fleet will also have some units (probably CG cutters and maybe an LCS) in the area.

None of these ships is likely to be a match for the Venezuelan Navy, but the US could quickly have overwhelming amounts of airpower over the area.

Damen 5009 for Falklands Fisheries Protection

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New Fishery Patrol Vessel (FPV) for the Falkland Islands provided under a 15-year contract by Seagull Maritime Ltd to begin patrols next year.@damen

There is not a lot here, just a bit on Twitter and a photo you can click on at the bottom of the page here. I have quoted the Twitter below.

Navy Lookout@NavyLookout
New Fishery Patrol Vessel (FPV) for the Falkland Islands provided under a 15-year contract by Seagull Maritime Ltd to begin patrols next year.
@damen

Stan 5009 Axe-Bow vessel built in Vietnam. To be named ‘Lilibet’ in honour of the late Queen.

The Brits do things differently. They have different fisheries protection agencies in different areas and in some cases, it is done by the Royal Navy. A Royal Navy River Class Batch II Offshore Patrol Vessel, HMS Forth, also patrols the Falklands, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands.
The Damen Stan Patrol 5009 basically replaced their Stan Patrol 4708 that was the basis of the Webber class WPCs in their product portfolio. (The number represents nominal length and beam in meters.) The 5009 is 50.1 meters in length and 9.4 meters of beam, so slightly larger than the Webber class. (More info here.)
Weather around the Falklands is not unlike that on Alaska Patrol, typically nasty. The “axe bow” would reduce pitch, but the bow might tend to be wetter.
We saw this class in an earlier post that may give some insight into how these little ships might be equipped.