Jamaica bolsters Coast Guard patrol force

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) formally stood up a new formation – the Second District Coast Guard – on 16 November, shortly after formally accepting the service's first new Stan Patrol 4207 patrol boat into service at the Coast Guard's HMJS Cagway base in Port Royal.

The new formation is specifically expected to target drugs and weapons trafficking, and illicit fishing.

The new ship, which was ordered in 2019 along with a pair of Fast Crew Supplier 5009 vessels (the first delivered in 2020) and a second Stan Patrol 4207, joins two Stan Patrol 4207 vessels that were built at Damen's Gorinchem yard and commissioned into Jamaican service in February 2017.

There was a slight delay in the Coast Guard receiving its new vessel as Covid restrictions meant Jamaican sailors were banned from travelling to collect it from Damen's Song Cam shipyard where it was built. Instead, the new ship was delivered from Vietnam by the cargo lift ship BBC Congo ( Yamal Orlan ) on 5 August.

A Damen spokesperson told Janes that the Coast Guard is now fully responsible for the vessel, but the shipyard also retains engineers at the Coast Guard base to provide logistics support.

The spokesperson added, “We are aiming to start construction on the third vessel [the second Batch II 4207] as soon as possible, for which we are awaiting the ‘go' sign from the Jamaica Defence Force.” Once that is approved, the vessels should be delivered at annual intervals.