AFRICOM Donates Patrol Boats to Senegal, Cabo Verde

The boats were funded by the U.S. Africa Command Counternarcotic and Transnational Threats Programs Division.



By Nate Herring U.S. Africa Command public affairs Stuttgart, Germany Feb 09, 2018
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STUTTGART, Germany – The United States donated two 38 foot Defiant class patrol boats to the Senegalese Navy during a handover ceremony Feb. 8, 2018 in Dakar, Senegal.

The boats were funded by the U.S. Africa Command Counternarcotic and Transnational Threats Programs Division.

The donation included boat repair and maintenance kits, and towing vehicles, and a two-week training session on the use and maintenance of the crafts.

 “This donation augments Senegal’s law enforcement capacity to patrol its exclusive economic zone and adjacent international waters through the provision of an offshore patrol capability greatly enhancing their ability to counter illicit drug trafficking in the maritime domain,” said Ken Diamond, AFRICOM counter illicit trafficking program manager.

Another patrol boat is scheduled for delivery to the Senegalese Navy in Oct. 2018.  This will be the sixth of this class donated to Senegal.

Similarly, AFRICOM donated five 21 foot Relentless class patrol craft to the Cabo Verde Maritime Police in December 2017 and has plans to donate 10 more by 2019.

These boats also came with operations and maintenance training and personal protective equipment, said Chad Godlewski, AFRICOM counter illicit trafficking branch chief.

“The boats were given to the Maritime Police to increase Cabo Verde’s ability to interdict illicit drug trafficking,” he said. “Cabo Verde is located at a strategic crossroads between South America, Africa, and Europe and this is a primary transit route for South American cocaine.”

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