''Vigía'' (P-73) is a of the Spanish Navy built in 1992. The ship's primary missions are oceanic patrol, fishing control, escort, and

maritime rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

Description

''Vigía'' is an offshore patrol vessel with a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 1,200 tons. It is long, has a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a draught of . It is powered by two MTU engines which supply to two variable-pitch propellers for a maximum speed of . It is equipped with a single /50

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

gun and two 12.7 mm Browning machine guns, and has a crew of 45. Its flight deck can receive medium helicopters, and it hosts two rigid-hulled inflatable boats.

History

''Vigía'' was built by Navantia in

Ferrol Ferrol may refer to: Places * Ferrol (comarca), a coastal region in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain * Ferrol, Spain, industrial city and naval station in Galicia, Spain ** Racing de Ferrol, an association football club * Ferrol, Romblon, municipality in ...

, and was delivered to the Spanish Navy on 23 March 1993. It has taken part in several international exercises over the course of its career, including

Neo Tapon Neo or NEO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Neo (''The Matrix''), the alias of Thomas Anderson, a hacker and the protagonist of the Matrix film series * Neo (''Marvel Comics'' species), a fictional race of superhumans * ...

with NATO, Majestic Eagle, and Linked Seas. In March 1995, ''Vigía'' set sail from Cádiz for Northeast Atlantic to protect fishing trawlers during the bloodless Turbot War with Canada, which had escalated earlier that month following the Canadian seizure of the vessel ''Estai.'' One of the missions of ''Vigía'' is to conduct search and rescue operations. In 2014, a large flotilla of migrant vessels was detected in the Strait of Gibraltar. ''Vigía,'' along with Civil Guard and Maritime Rescue Service boats, captured a total of 94 boats with 920 immigrants aboard, of which ''Vigía'' rescued 6 boats and 48 people. In 2020, the ship took part in a search to find a missing sailor from a sunken fishing ship in the

Alboran Sea The Alboran Sea (from Arabic , ''al-Baḥrān'') is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa (Spain on the north and Morocco and Algeria on the south). The Strait of Gibraltar, w ...

. A secondary mission of ''Vigía'' is to conduct cooperative and diplomatic missions in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. From February to June 2017, the vessel deployed to the Gulf of Guinea after visiting

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, Senegal,

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

, Cameroon and

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

. The vessel deployed to the region again in 2021, and also visited as far south as Luanda, Angola.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigía Patrol vessels of the Spanish Navy 1992 ships Ships built in Spain