Colombia Starts Building First Frigate, Ready by 2030
Colombia · Defense
Key Facts
—The first. Colombia’s COTECMAR shipyard has cut steel on the country’s first domestically built frigate.
—The design. The 107.5-metre warship is based on Damen’s SIGMA 10514, and would be the largest defence vessel Colombia has built.
—The timeline. Construction is at COTECMAR’s Cartagena yard, with delivery expected around 2030.
—Already afloat. The milestone follows the ARC 24 de Julio, a 93-metre ocean patrol vessel handed to the Navy in January 2026, the largest warship ever built in Colombia.
—The club. Colombia would become the third Latin American country able to build such a platform, after Brazil and Mexico.
Colombia is stepping up as a shipbuilder. Work has begun on the Colombia first frigate to be built on home soil, a project the Navy hopes will anchor a domestic naval industry rather than rely on foreign yards.
The state shipbuilder COTECMAR held the first steel-cutting ceremony for the frigate in February 2026, Naval News reported. The vessel, part of the Navy’s PES strategic-platform programme, is based on the Dutch SIGMA 10514 design from Damen.
For a foreign reader, a steel-cutting ceremony is the industrial equivalent of a groundbreaking. It is the moment the first metal plate is shaped, formally launching the construction phase of a ship.
The SIGMA 10514 designation refers to a proven modular design from the Dutch shipbuilder Damen. The number means the vessel is roughly 105 metres long and 14 metres wide, a size that balances ocean-going endurance with the ability to operate in coastal waters.
A bigger, home-built warship
At 107.5 metres, the frigate would be the largest security and defence vessel Colombia has ever constructed. It is being built at COTECMAR’s yard in Cartagena, with delivery expected around 2030, and the wider programme envisages a class of Damen-designed frigates over the following years.
Building at home is the point. It keeps skilled shipyard jobs and industrial know-how in Colombia, and reduces dependence on foreign suppliers for the Navy’s most capable ships.
Cartagena, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, has long been the heart of the country’s naval industry. The choice to build there taps into an existing workforce and a port infrastructure that can handle large hulls.
A frigate is a multi-role warship, typically faster and more heavily armed than a patrol vessel, designed to protect other ships, hunt submarines, or respond to threats far from shore. That makes it a significant step up in complexity from anything COTECMAR has assembled before.
Building on a recent milestone
The frigate follows a proof of concept already in the water. In January 2026 the Navy took delivery of the ARC 24 de Julio, a 93-metre ocean patrol vessel that is the largest warship designed and built entirely in Colombia to date, also per Naval News. The patrol ship has since entered active service.
Together, the two projects mark a step change: from assembling foreign designs toward building large, capable warships locally.
An ocean patrol vessel like the ARC 24 de Julio is built for long-duration missions such as maritime surveillance, search and rescue, and intercepting smuggling vessels. A frigate adds a layer of combat capability, including more advanced sensors and weapons systems. Moving from one to the other signals that a shipyard has mastered not just the steel and welding, but the complex integration of combat electronics, propulsion, and crew systems that a modern warship demands.
Why it matters
Completing the frigate would put Colombia in a small group of Latin American states, alongside Brazil and Mexico, capable of building this class of ship. For a Navy that patrols two oceans and long Pacific and Caribbean coastlines against trafficking, that industrial capacity is strategic as well as symbolic.
The delivery date is years away, and naval programmes routinely slip. But the keel-laying marks a genuine ambition to build, not just buy.
Colombia is the only South American nation with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. That geography makes maritime patrol especially demanding.
A domestically built frigate programme could, over time, give the Navy more control over its fleet renewal schedule and maintenance cycles, rather than waiting on foreign shipyards and supply chains. It also creates a local ecosystem of engineers, welders, and technicians whose skills can support other industries beyond defence.
What remains to be seen is whether the programme can hold to its timeline and budget through changes in government and shifting security priorities. Another open question is whether the skills gained on this first hull will lead to export opportunities or partnerships with other regional navies looking to modernise their fleets.
The broader significance will depend on whether this frigate becomes a one-off achievement or the true start of a sustained shipbuilding tradition.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Colombia’s first frigate be ready?
COTECMAR began construction in early 2026, with delivery of the first PES frigate expected around 2030 from its Cartagena shipyard.
What design is the frigate based on?
It is based on Damen’s SIGMA 10514. At 107.5 metres it would be the largest defence vessel ever built in Colombia.
What is the ARC 24 de Julio?
A 93-metre ocean patrol vessel handed to the Colombian Navy in January 2026, the largest warship designed and built entirely in Colombia before the new frigate programme.
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