#JointNavyPatrols – The Spanish Navy currently has 29 ships at sea, and 2,665 people embarked or deployed away from their bases. One of these ships the offshore patrol vessel, Arnomendi (P63) is understood to have completed in an international pelagic monitoring campaign off Ireland, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The ‘Chilreu’ class OPV Arnomendi has been to the Great Sole Bank, off the south of Ireland for the second stage of a pelagic monitoring campaign where a four-nation team participated with naval OPV’s from Ireland, the UK, France and Spain.

The campaign's purpose was to enhance and improve control, inspection and surveillance standards and help establish the coordination of these activities among member states. The origins of the international pelagic campaign were formed from the Fisheries Surveillance Plan that was drafted in 2014.

During this second stage of the campaign deployment, Arnomendi with a crew of 37 was scheduled to embark one Irish and two Spanish fishery inspectors in the port of Cork.

The 1,962 displacement vessel which has a stern mounted heli-deck has since returned to Cork's J.J. Horgans Wharf in recent days, however the OPV is scheduled to depart tonight and is expected to reach her homeport of Cartagena by October 10th.

Prior to her role in the Atlantic, the 66m long Arnomendi had departed Cartagena to take part in the first stage of the pelagic campaign in the Cantabrian Sea that ran for a fortnight. This involved the OPV built in 2000 act as ‘core-ship’ in the joint naval deep-sea fishing campaign held in international waters off the coasts of France, Portugal and those within the Spanish EEZ.

The naval flotilla had carried out tasks including the verification of authorized trawlers, the implementation of existing fishing regulations and prevention of illegal activities by third party elements.

The above duties also required the assistance of inspectors to board both Iberian navies, one from the Spanish fisheries secretariat, SEGEPESCA and the other from the Portuguese Natural Resources Secretariat.

It is appropriate that the OPV which is the second of the Chilreu trio class, whose main mission is surveillance and fishing control, was designed from the hull of a trawler, the Trimbel. This vessel was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to assist the Spanish Navy's Chilreu class patrol boats in surveillance missions after the so-called “Turbot War”.

Each of the sisters main armoury consist of a pair of Browning 12.7 mm machine-guns and a single 1 MG-42 (7.62 mm) gun.

In addition to the standard crew total, the vessel can accommodate a 16-strong Marine Corps contingent. Also mentioned was the heli-deck which is for the use of light helicopters, the AB-212 or H-500.