RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Argentine Ministry of Defense announced that the OPV ARA Almirante Storni, the latest ocean patrol vessel incorporated, is carrying out patrolling tasks in the Argentine Sea under the operational control of the new Joint Maritime Command (CCM). The deployment represents the second mission of the new command that seeks to protect Argentine maritime interests.
The ARA Almirante Storni joins the ocean patrol vessel ARA Piedrabuena, which at the end of January sailed from its berth at the Mar del Plata Naval Base, to carry out surveillance, control and monitoring operations of the foreign fishing fleet in the area adjacent to the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) located in the first 200 miles.
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After this first mission of the JMC, the Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, said: “The Joint Maritime Command is essential to advance in the integration of the three Forces in the tasks of defense of Argentina’s sovereign interests at sea. We are strengthening our operational capabilities for a better maritime patrolling of the EEZ and the maritime interests zone; care of the sea’s renewable and non-renewable resources and the fulfillment of international commitments regarding the capacity to provide support to the safeguarding of human life at sea and the improvement of the support to the Antarctic Bases”.
THE JOINT MARITIME COMMAND
The Joint Maritime Command began to operate on January 1 of this year, but was created on February 23, 2021 by Resolution 244/2021, under the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, due to the need to have an organization in charge of permanently conducting surveillance and control operations in maritime and fluvial spaces.
Among other assigned functions, the CCM is involved in the planning and execution of search and rescue tasks in maritime areas and maritime traffic control tasks in the Southwest and Southern Atlantic area.
In this opportunity, the ship incorporated to the Force at the end of last year is the one that was fulfilling one of its main objectives: to provide a reinforcement and renewal to continue with the task of surveillance, sea control and the defense of maritime resources in the Argentine Sea.
The Storni is the third of the four OPV-90 Gowind class.
The ARA Almirante Storni (P-53) belongs to the group of four Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) designed by the French shipyard Naval Group. They are monohull vessels of 87 meters in length, 13.6 meters in beam and 3.8 meters in draft. This type of vessel is propelled by two V12 diesel engines that give it a range of 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 kilometers) sailing at 12 knots and can reach a maximum speed of 21 knots (approximately 38 kilometers per hour), with a hull specially refurbished for navigation in waters close to Antarctica.
Its armament is typical for this class of vessels: a 30 mm Leonardo cannon and two 12.7 mm M2 machine guns. In addition, it has a series of sensors, radars and electronic warfare systems. The ship has space for two nine-meter semi-rigid boats on its rear ramps and has the capacity to carry a helicopter of up to ten tons.
The other three ships of the class are the ARA Bouchard, the ARA Piedrabuena and the ARA Bartolomé Cordero. The contract that the Argentine Navy entered into with the French company for the delivery of a total of four units amounted to 319 million Euros.