New super-fast patrol boat for the Guardia Civil to combat drug trafficking
The Guardia Civil has taken possession of its second high-performance boat for the fight against drug trafficking and illegal immigration for the Costa de la Luz. Aislamientos Térmicos de Galicia (Aister) is the company that has been in charge of its manufacture and delivery (arriving last Wednesday). The vessel, named Rio Iro, is specially designed to combat drug trafficking and crime along the shores of Spain. To this end, it can reach speeds of 60 knots (about 111 kilometres per hour), comparable to those of the fastest narco-boats used by the traffickers themselves. In fact, the mayor of Chiclana, José María Román , has thanked the Guardia Civil for naming the boat after a river in Chiclana. In February, the first of the fast boats, named Río Flumen, was delivered.
This delivery is part of a fleet renewal plan launched three years ago. At that time, the Guardia Civil acquired some H60-type launcher boats, advertised at the time as “the fastest patrol boat in the world”, with speeds of between 60 and 70 knots (between 111 and 130 kilometres per hour) as well as Río Flumen. In 2021, the Guardia Civil also ordered a patrol boat from Armón Vigo and, in October 2022, received the second of two units of the type known as Rodman 66.
The acquisition of this type of vessel is justified because about a third of the boats in the fleet used by the Maritime Service of the Guardia Civil (Semar) are more than 20 years old, about five years beyond their useful life. Therefore, such boats would not be up to scratch for a confrontation with a narco-boat. In fact, in February of this year, two Guardia Civil officers died and a third was seriously injured in an encounter with traffickers in Barbate.
Semar keeps on with the rejuvenation of its fleet to fight drug trafficking, a project that already totals more than 60 million euros in orders placed with the Galician shipbuilding industry.
Semar installed the new patrol boat Río Flumen, manufactured in Galicia, at its command centre in Algeciras back in February. It is an interceptor boat, one of the fastest on the market. The vessel was built by the Aister shipyard in Moaña because that manufacturer specialises in aluminium boats, which this boat is made of, and it was handed over to Semar at the Sotogrande marina in Cadiz province.
Colonel Francisco Almansa, head of operations for the Guardia Civil in Algeciras, mentioned how, during the test run, it was possible to check out the ” great top speed and manoeuvrability” of this type of patrol boat. More importantly, “right now” it surpasses “the capacity that the drug traffickers have with their rubber dinghies, which are much more vulnerable.” He added that the new boat “has a much more stable structure.”
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The boat has a length of about 18 metres and almost triples the top speed of existing boats in Semar’s fleet. It can reach up to 60 knots, thanks to state-of-the-art waterjet propulsion systems. It has two engines of 1800 horsepower each, according to the manufacturer, and the hull is made of aluminium, 100% recyclable. The shipyard owner has assured his important client that “it behaves very well in difficult sea conditions”, with the capacity to “make sharp turns” and come to a stop from top speed to zero in the space of about 36 metres.
These features make it ideal for the fight against drug trafficking but also against unauthorised immigration. These two issues are mission-critical in the Strait of Gibraltar and so will be the focus of patrols by the Guardia Civil. The cost of the vessel is 1.87 million euros. Colonel Almansa stated that three more vessels like this one have already been ordered.
