Uruguayan Navy receives three Protector class patrol boats from US.

According to information published by Pucara on September 5, 2022, the National Navy of Uruguay received the three Damen Stan Patrol 2606 - Protector Class patrol boats, donated by the United States government in a ceremony held at the US Coast Guard Base in Baltimore, Maryland.
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ROU 15 Rio de la Plata, ex Cochito - WPD-87329. (Picture source: DVIDS)

The vessels were named US Coast Guard ROU 14 Rio Arapey, ex Albacore (WPB-87309), ROU 15 Rio de la Plata (ex Cochito - WPD-87329), and ROU 16 Rio Yaguaron (ex Gannet - WPB-87334) and are expected to arrive in Uruguay in November to join the Sea Forces Command.

Two of the vessels will serve at the new Fray Bentos Naval Base on the Uruguay River and the other in Montevideo. The three had been officially delivered to the Uruguayan Navy on December 15, 2021.

The vessels were built by Bollinger Shipyards at the beginning of the new millennium, which delivered 74 to the US Coast Guard, 2 to the US Navy, 2 to the government of Malta, and 2 to the government of Yemen.

In June 2021 the donation had been approved, within the Excess Defense Articles Program of the three vessels to Uruguay, for a value of US$8,685,000.

They are 26.8 meters long, 6.2 meters wide, 1.85 meters maximum draft, have the capacity to deploy an RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) through the transom, and are powered by two MTU 12V 396 TE 94 engines of 1,680kW at 2,000rpm with two fixed pitch propellers, which allow them to reach a speed of up to 35 knots.