Dominican Republic ??signs for surplus Portuguese patrol ships

In Portugal, the Tejo-class fleet principally carried out patrol, surveillance, and Search and Rescue missions. (Victor Barreira)

The Navy of the Dominican Republic, known as the Armada de República Dominicana (ARD), intended to strengthen protection of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with four Standard Flex 300 Series 2 multi-purpose coastal patrol vessels acquired from Portugal in February.

The contract to acquire the ships was signed between the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence and the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Defence. It was worth up to EUR24.37 million (USD28.4 million) if the Dominican Republic places options for the installation of additional systems and equipment, the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence said.

The Tejo-class ships have reached the end of their life cycle with the Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Minister of National Defence, João Nuno Lacerda Teixeira de Melo told Janes.

The fleet was intended to carry out surveillance and patrol missions and combat illicit activities, the Dominican Republic's Minister of Defence Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, told Janes.

The ships were scheduled to be gradually delivered over the 40 months up to July 2029.

The contract included modernisation, delivery of spare parts and ammunition, training, technical documentation and logistics support.

Following the contract signature, Dominican Republic officials carried out a technical inspection of the four ships on 21 February at the Lisbon Naval Base.

For more, please see: Portugal's Navictus develops multi-purpose modular USV