L. Márquez (Cotecmar): “The Navy’s shipbuilding program is necessary for Colombia’s security”
From today until March 10, the seventh edition of the Colombiamar Colombian maritime fair and the eighth edition of the International Congress of Naval Design and Engineering (Cidin) will be held in the port of Cartagena de Indias.
This event, organized by the Corporación de Ciencia, Tecnología para el Desarrollo de la Industria Naval, Marítima y Fluvial (Cotecmar), the Escuela Naval Almirante Padilla (Enap) and the Instituto Panamericano de Ingeniería Naval, will be presided over by the president of the public shipyard, Rear Admiral Luis F. Márquez.
Infodefensa.com has had the opportunity to talk with him, among other topics, about the expectations after being held in person for the last time in 2019 and virtually in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
What are the expectations of Cotecmar, the National Navy, and the Colombian maritime sector with this new edition of Colombiamar?
Colombiamar is a naval fair organized by Cotecmar since 2006.
This year we will celebrate the ninth version that returns to face-to-face after four years, taking into account the pandemic and the capacity restrictions we are experiencing in Colombia and the world.
Our expectations are high since we will have the participation of more than 4,000 visitors, a commercial sample of 80 companies from 16 countries associated with the naval, maritime, and fluvial industries.
In addition, we will have the participation of 15 marinas from countries such as Costa Rica, Spain, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, Italy, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Germany, Dominican Republic, among others.
How important is the development of the ESP project for Colombia?
The development of the naval construction program of the National Navy is necessary to guarantee the country’s comprehensive maritime security.
This will not only contribute to the fulfillment of the duty to protect the maritime heritage of all Colombians but will also contribute to the generation of decent and stable jobs, the potentization of productive chains, and the promotion of science and technology to strengthen the competitiveness and export capacity of the country’s vessels.
Among the industrial and technological benefits of developing this project are the following:
- the development and dissemination of advanced technologies and strategic innovations;
- the generation of new industrial and service assets contributing to the creation of qualified jobs with future projection in various sectors; the contribution to the promotion and growth of national companies and integrators of high-value-added products;
- the possibility of collaboration between public and private companies improving industrial competitiveness to access global markets.
It is a key element for diversifying industrial exports of complex products in the country’s regions.
What are the most important naval developments in Colombia?
Cotecmar’s strategic objective for the current four-year term is to develop technological solutions for development and social benefit.
Dual-use technologies ‘are generally considered from an industrial perspective, as an opportunity for the wider use of research and manufacturing efforts beyond their initial objectives, whether military or civilian’ (Molas-Gallart, 1997).
Cotecmar has identified in these technologies an opportunity to contribute to solving the social problems Latin American countries face.
That is why dual-use technologies are the new bet for promoting innovation and technological development of the national shipbuilding industry.
Thus, based on products that operate successfully in the Colombian Navy and other navies in the region, Cotecmar has developed, from dual-use technology concepts, products that meet the needs of access to government supply for coastal and coastal populations of the national territory.
This permanent feedback from the Colombian Navy has allowed the shipyard to understand the needs of these populations of difficult access in the Colombian territory to develop different technological solutions of social benefit to provide: health, education, logistics and transportation, and government supply in general.
The Government has shown a strong interest in the national defense sector. What has been the main collaboration with the sector? Has it been through the GSED?
As Cotecmar is one of the companies of the GSED, all our relationship has been through the Vice Minister to strengthen the Colombian industry and generate strategic alliances between the public and private sectors to boost the national economy.
Along with the first PES, the new Colombian Ocean Patrol Vessel and the new Logistic Support Vessel are also coming. What are the technological innovations that we will see in them?
Being this Frigate the largest and most technologically complex unit to be built by the country, the main difference will lie in implementing modern equipment and systems on board.
They will improve performance in terms of mission fulfillment, as well as efficiency in energy and environmental terms, highlighting the ability to use unmanned systems, modularity, the use of the onboard helicopter, state-of-the-art communications systems, interoperability with other navies in the world, support for humanitarian missions and the use of new technologies for defense.
On the other hand, the Patrullera Oceánica Colombiana (POC) [Oceanic Patrol Vessel (OPV)] will be the first unit of this type to be 100% Colombian since its design and construction, integrating technological solutions for the specific needs and requirements of the Colombian Navy.
The Logistic Support Vessel is a new and innovative design developed to provide logistic support for cargo transportation and supply to shore units and coastal populations; humanitarian support for national civilian authorities in disaster relief and humanitarian aid operations, as well as control, surveillance, and protection against pollution and irrational exploitation of natural resources in the marine environment.
How is the Patrullero Amazónico project progressing?
The importance of this project lies in the fact that it is the first and largest international cooperation project in the design of military vessels in Latin America, which integrated the operational needs for river navigation on the Amazon River that joins Colombia, Brazil, and Peru, resulting in the contractual design of a vessel that meets the requirements of the navies of the three countries in terms of protection and patrol of the most important river artery of the continent.
It should be noted that this project has been approved and classified by the IACS classification society, which integrates a project of high technological maturity and highly reduces project risks.
The three countries that participated in the process can commercialize this vessel.
In case of materializing an eventual business, it could be possible to finalize the basic design and proceed with the transition engineering and construction.
With information from Infodefensa
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