Ex-Jamaican COUNTY-class Refurbished by Damen

The Nicaraguan Navy has received two Damen patrol vessels, procured in January 2018. The vessels – the ex-Jamaican Coast Guard COUNTY-class cutters HMJS CORNWALL (YN549860) and HMJS SURREY (YN549862) – were modernised by Damen in the Netherlands before being delivered.

Built to a modified STAN Patrol 4207 design in 2005 and 2006, the cutters were returned to Damen in 2017 in part payment for two new vessels of the same class. Taken into Nicaraguan service as SOBERANIA I (serial 409) and SOBERANIA II (411), the two vessels were purchased for $14 million, including the modernisation and upgrade. Part of the latter involved the installation of a 23x152mm ZSU-23-2 autocannon and two 14.5x114mm machine guns. Both vessels are destined to patrol Caribbean waters.

Santiago Rivas and Florencia Lucero Heguy