By AMI INTERNATIONAL INC.
West and Central African states have announced plans to create a joint coast guard force to help combat piracy, illegal fishing, illegal migration and pollution. Secretary-General of the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa, Magnus Teye Addico, said the integrated force could be operational as soon as mid-2007.
“These things need collaboration. If (migrants, pirates or smugglers) leave your borders, your territorial waters, you can’t pursue them any further,” said Addico, who is from Ghana. “That is why we are bringing all the countries together to cooperate.”
Plans for the organization’s 26 member countries — Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali and Niger — were finalized at a technical meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in mid-June.
The focus is on pooling the scarce naval resources of these nations to pursue pirates, illegal fisherman and terrorists. Additionally, the joint coast guard force could be used to intercept illegal migrants headed to Europe.
Currently, only Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal have established coast guards, while other countries utilize their limited naval resources to patrol their own shores.
With the integrated coastal security plan, up to six countries would carry out joint patrols with the right of “hot pursuit” that would enable vessels of one member state to cross into its neighbors’ waters to catch fleeing suspects or offenders. The plan calls for a minimum of two patrol boats and one helicopter for each of the six sectors to perform the basic missions of the joint coast guard.
Addico indicated that the integrated coast guard could help with all kinds of emergency and rescue work and that the region would seek international financial backing for the project.
“We have a lot of pledges from our development partners, such as South Korea, France, the European Union, United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Once you put the infrastructure in place the benefits will be high for the international maritime community,” Addico said.
Australia To Buy NH90s To Replace Sea Kings
The Australian Department of Defense has approved a $1.5 billion acquisition of 34 Eurocopter NH90 helicopters. The acquisition complements the 2004 acquisition of 12 helicopters for the Australian Army.
The additional NH90s were procured under the Australian Defense Force Rotary Wing Capability (AIR 9000) joint project. AIR 9000 called for the acquisition of a common helicopter to modernize the Army’s troop lift capability as well as various Navy requirements.
For the Royal Australian Navy, in the short term, the NH90 will replace the seven Sea King helicopters that are utilized for utility missions. In the longer term, the NH90s could eventually replace the Navy’s remaining Sea Kings.
Danish Patrol Ship Program Set to Begin
The Danish Ministry of Defense has approved funding for the three-ship class of the Patrol Ship Program. Construction of the first unit is expected to begin in October 2007.
The ship will be about 453 feet in length, displace approximately 6,200 tons and have a maximum speed of 28 knots. Other features of the Patrol Ship include:
- A flight deck and hangar for one large size helicopter as well as storage for an unmanned aerial vehicle;
- One OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid gun in the forward position;
- One OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid gun or Millennium close-in weapon system (CIWS) in secondary position;
- One Millennium CIWS above the helicopter hangar;
- Two 12-cell Mk56 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile launchers;
- Two eight-canister modules for a total of 16 Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles;
- One Mk41 vertical launch system for Standard SM-2 surface-to air-missiles as well as Tomahawk land attack missiles if requested;
- Two triple tube launchers for MU-90 lightweight torpedoes;
- Stinger missile batteries.
A total of $800 million was approved for the ship’s construction as well as most of the equipment.
Spanish Cabinet OKs New Destroyer, OPVs
The Spanish Cabinet has granted approvals affecting three major naval programs. The approvals included:
- The fifth F-100-class destroyer unit;
- The first four units of the Buque de Acción Marítima (BAM) offshore patrol vessel (OPV) program;
- The purchase of 45 NH90 helicopters to be used in all services.
- The BAM OPV and F-100 programs are worth approximately $1.4 billion.
The BAMs will replace the six Descubierta-class OPVs (on an eventual one-for-one basis) that are nearing the end of their effective service lives. The BAMs will be 94 meters in length, displace around 2,500 tons and have a top speed of 20 knots. The ships will be equipped with a helicopter landing pad and one 76mm rapid-fire gun, be manned by a crew of 40 and have a range of 8,000 nautical miles at 12 knots.
The BAMs are to be built at Navantia’s Cadiz shipyard. The fifth F-100 (with a sixth unit to follow) will be built at Navantia’s Ferrol yard.
AMI International Inc., Bremerton, Wash., is an international consulting and naval intelligence services company located on the web at www.amiinter.com.
