Metal Shark makes programme progress for Caribbean navies
Costa Rica is the fifth nation to receive a patrol vessel under the USN's NCPV programme. (Photo: Metal Shark)
US shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered a new patrol vessel to Costa Rica and achieved a major milestone on a project for Guyana.
A Near Coastal Patrol Vessel (NCPV) departed St Petersburg, Florida, on 30 January en route to Costa Rica – the latest platform built by US-based shipyard Metal Shark for Central American and Caribbean navies.
This is the fifth 85 Defiant vessel built by Metal Shark as part of a 13-NCPV order from the USN. NCPVs are being donated to US regional partners to improve maritime operations including patrol, search and rescue, combating drug trafficking and smuggling, as well as illegal, unregulated and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
In August 2020, the first vessel of the programme, Betelgeuse (was delivered to the
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