The patrol vessel "Centinela" to be deployed off west coast of Africa

The operation will be divided into three phases. The first phase, which will continue until mid-October, will include its journey to the Gulf of Guinea and reciprocal collaboration on cooperative security with Senegal.

During the second phase, the vessel will remain in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea and carry out military support activities at a maritime level with Ghana. These activities will mainly focus on identifying risks inherent to the maritime environment in the region: terrorism, illegal trafficking, illegal immigration and piracy.

During the final phase, it will collaborate on an operation to support Cape Verde in joint surveillance activities in the maritime space under its sovereignty and jurisdiction. Furthermore, it will undertake joint activities with the Mauritanian Navy related to the surveillance of fishing activities, search and rescue operations, the fight against illegal activities and illegal immigration.

These activities are in line with the maritime security and cooperation operations which were performed by the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Staff and the Navy in Western Africa and the Gulf of Guinea in the first quarter of 2015 by the patrol vessel "Vencedora".

In its almost three months of deployment, the vessel will form part of the operational structure of the Spanish Armed Forces dependent upon the Maritime Surveillance and Security Command.

International cooperation

Collaboration is also planned with vessels from other countries, particularly with French vessels, within the framework of the agreement entered into between France, Portugal, Denmark and Spain for multilateral cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea and which falls under the European Union's Maritime Security Strategy.

The patrol vessel "Centinela", commanded by Lieutenant Commander José Manuel Faraldo Sordo, was built by the Spanish company Bazán (now Navantia) in Ferrol and commissioned into the Spanish Navy in 1992. Based in Ferrol, its principal missions are maritime security, the fight against marine pollution, the detection and monitoring of possible illegal immigration activities and collaboration with State law enforcement agencies in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism.