The OPV Rayo (P-42) starts a presence, surveillance and deterrence operation

• The Navy vessel will carry out a surveillance and security patrol in maritime areas under national sovereignty.

The OPV Rayo (P-42), belonging to the Maritime Action Force, dependent on the Canary Islands Naval Command and based in the ‘Arsenal’ of ‘Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’, will set sail on the morning of next 28th July. Its main mission comprises maritime surveillance tasks in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea with the aim of contributing to ensuring the security of the maritime areas of national interest, within the framework of Presence, Surveillance and Deterrence Operations of the Armed Forces, integrated into the Maritime Operational Command (MOM in Spanish) and under the operational control of the Operations Command (MOPS).

The vessel is scheduled to call at Malaga’s port from the 7th to the 9th of August, where it will be available for visits by the local population in the mornings and afternoons, schedule still to be determined.

Among the missions assigned that can be found is the contribution to the Maritime Environment Awareness (MEA, or CEM in Spanish), an enabling element for the rest of the operations and the Maritime Security Operations (MSO), which constitute specific actions against threats and illegal acts that endanger the security in the maritime environment.

The OPV Rayo is the second in the series of four offshore patrol vessels under the Naval Command of the Canary Islands, based at the ‘Arsenal’ of ‘Las Palmas’, conceived to carry out maritime security missions, protection of national maritime interests and control of areas of national sovereignty and interest, as well as missions in collaboration with the State Security Forces and Corps at sea, such as operations against drug trafficking, illegal immigration or terrorism. They also carry out maritime traffic control and protection missions; fishing surveillance and control, and fight against marine pollution.

The OPV Rayo sets sail with a crew of 47 men and women.