Press Releases 2003

September 4, 2003

Donation of Coastal Patrol Boats to the National Maritime Service (SMN)

The Embassy of the United States has rebuilt six "Eduardono" style go-fast boats to be used for coastal patrol. On September 4 at a ceremony at Sherman, the U.S. Embassy donated the boats to the Panamanian National Maritime Service (SMN). They will be used to patrol the territorial waters around Panama. The use of the boats will also significantly enhance the SMN's counter-narcotics capacity and improve overall maritime security.

Seized during anti-narcotics exercises, the boats were repaired and refurbished as part of a cooperative effort by the SMN, United States Coast Guard and the Narcotics Affairs section of the U.S. Embassy. There will be ten in total that will be reconstructed, and all will have new gasoline tanks, twin 200hp Yamaha engines, radars, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), among other significant enhancements. They have a maximum speed of over 35 knots and its radar has a 12 nautical mile range.

Marking the delivery of the first six boats, Ambassador Linda Watt and SMN Director José Antonio Isaza both commented that this donation is an example of the continued cooperation between the United States and Panama.