VESSEL REVIEW | Rio Sil – Fisheries patrol boat quartet for Spain’s Guardia Civil police force

The Guardia Civil national police force of Spain has expanded its maritime law enforcement capability with the recent acquisition of a new series of four locally-built patrol boats.

Constructed by Armon Shipyard, sister vessels Rio Sil, Rio Luna, Rio Riaza, and Rio Guadiato will be operated by the marine arm of the Guardia Civil and will thus carry the livery of the agency but will be used primarily for fisheries enforcement patrols in addition to general law enforcement duties in Spain's coastal waters.

The European Union provided the €26 million (US$28.7 million) in funding necessary for the construction of all four boats, which are variants of an earlier Armon-built Guardia Civil vessel and are slated to replace a fleet of ageing enforcement boats. As with their predecessors, the new Armon-built patrol boats will be operated under the authority of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food.

The newbuilds each have a length of 35 metres, a beam of 7.8 metres, stabilising fins, and a hybrid propulsion system. The Guardia Civil said hybrid propulsion was selected to reduce CO2 emissions as well as operating costs.

Technology company Sedni supplied the patrol boats with electronics such as power management systems and monitoring systems. The navigation equipment on the boats includes Furuno radars.

Each vessel also has aft deck storage space and a stern launch/recovery ramp for a small outboard-powered, radar-equipped rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to be used for inspections and boardings of other vessels during fisheries patrols. The RIBs were supplied by Vanguard Marine.

The accommodation spaces on each boat include crew cabins and a mess/day room.

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