(Trinidad Express) The Government has entered into an agreement to purchase naval vessels for the Coast Guard, at a cost of around TT$1 billion, a deal that was brokered by fired national security minister Gary Griffith.
Today, new Minister of National Security Carl Alfonso is expected to sign the Shipbuilding Contracts and Overall Agreement for the construction of the vessels by Dutch shipbuilder Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding Yard.
The Ministry said the Damen Schelde Naval Shilbuilding Yard will be constructing four patrol vessels, two fast crew supplier (FCS) vessels, and six interceptors.
“These vessels will provide greater support to the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard in defending the sovereign good of Trinidad and Tobago and will also be providing continuous security and safety for our maritime boundaries,” said the Ministry.
The issue of the purchase of naval vessels for Trinidad and Tobago has been a controversial one with the People’s Partnership Government scrapping the deal to purchase three offshore patrol vessels (OPV)s from the United Kingdom.
Former minister Griffith said the decision to purchase the vessels was his, and the cost was just over TT$1 billion.
“When I became the Minister, I realised that for three years, the Government had done absolutely nothing in lieu of the concerns of our border and gaps and because of the shutting down of the OPVs, it was a front-burning issue. I immediately assembled a team of persons comprising of the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard, one of the most highly qualified naval architects, and a previous chief of defence staff to help find the proper type vessels at the most appropriate price,” said Griffith.
“It is four vessels that will be basically locking down the Gulf of Paria and the south coast from illegal weapons, drugs and even human trafficking.
There will also be two utility vessels, these will be support vessels that will provide logistics supplies, equipment, fuel and so forth to be sent to those other vessels so they don’t have to come back on to shore. There will also be several interceptors, which will be very fast patrol vessels which can intercept any other vessel that might try to penetrate our borders,” he added.
Griffith said the cost of the Dutch vessels was cheap when compared to vessels from other countries.
“It was very critical that we get the vessels at the fastest time, at the best cost and the best quality. Damen is also one of the most highly-respected and qualified companies that manufactures military vessels from Holland.
They were the ones that were able to give it to us at the fastest time because every single day is a day too long to not have vessels in the water.”
