On February 5, 2026, Colombia’s COTECMAR Shipyard announced the first steel-cutting ceremony of the first PES frigate for the Colombian Navy.
COTECMAR Shipyard press release – Translated by Naval News
The Corporation for Science and Technology for the Development of the Naval, Maritime and Riverine Industry (COTECMAR) has officially begun construction of the Strategic Surface Platform (PES), a project marking a new milestone in Colombian naval engineering as it is the first frigate to be built in the country.
This strategic project being carried out by the Corporation for the Colombian Navy represents another step in strengthening the national shipbuilding industry, the capabilities of human talent, and Cotecmar’s capacity to design, build, and sustain highly complex naval platforms.
During the official ceremony marking the first steel cut at Cotecmar’s Mamonal facility, Vice Admiral Luis Fernando Márquez Velosa, President of COTECMAR, stated: “At COTECMAR, we will continue moving forward, building the future and demonstrating that Colombian naval engineering is of world-class standard.”
From a technical standpoint, the frigate will be built using a modular construction strategy, and its hull will consist of 52 naval steel blocks. The vessel will have a length of 107.5 meters, a beam of 14.02 meters, and a draft of 3.90 meters, becoming the largest security and defense vessel in the country. With this project, Colombia will become the third Latin American country with the capability to build this type of platform, after Mexico and Brazil.
The construction of the PES will promote the creation of qualified and sustainable employment, with approximately 1,500 direct jobs and 4,000 additional indirect and induced jobs during the construction period until its formal delivery to the Navy in 2030.
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