COTECMAR

COTECMAR was created in July 2000 as an alliance between the Colombian Navy and three universities, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad del Norte and Universidad Tecnologica de Bolivar, and it sits under the Ministry of Defence. That mixed parentage explains its shape. It is a shipyard and a research corporation at once, and it names five business lines: construction, repair and modernisation, science and technology, design and engineering, and industrial services. Two plants in Cartagena carry the work. Mamonal has a syncrolift able to lift 3,600 tonnes and handle hulls up to 120 metres, while Bocagrande has a slipway for smaller craft, giving eleven docking positions across roughly 186,000 square metres.

The fighting ships come first. Three OPV-80 patrol vessels built under Fassmer licence, ARC 20 de Julio, ARC 7 de Agosto and ARC Victoria, gave the Navy ocean going presence, and a larger OPV-93 followed with more endurance and a heavier gun. The biggest step is the Plataforma Estrategica de Superficie, a frigate based on Damen's SIGMA 10514 design and the largest naval construction contract in Colombian history. Steel was first cut in January 2026 and delivery is planned for 2030, with the ship intended to replace one of the ageing Almirante Padilla class and to bring air, surface, anti submarine and electronic warfare capability into a locally built hull.

Riverine work is what COTECMAR is best known for regionally. The PAF-P is a large riverine support patrol vessel that acts as a floating logistics base with hospital beds and aviation fuel, while the LPR 40 Mark II is an armoured fast patrol boat with water jets and multiple weapon stations used by the Colombian marines. Landing craft, the BAL-C logistic support and coastal trade vessel and amphibious landing ships have gone to Honduras and Guatemala as well as to Colombia. Commercial and scientific hulls include the BICM marine research vessel built under Damen licence, the BCC 6012 cargo and coastal trade ship, an offshore multi purpose logistic support tug to a Robert Allan design, and multicargo river barges.

A fourth strand is social and dual use. Firefighting boats, non propelled river training and medical service platforms and modular river berths are built for isolated riverside communities. Repair and modernisation covers propeller and shaft lines, azimuth and Voith Schneider propulsion, hull steelwork, blasting and painting to 44,000 psi, and overhaul of MTU, Caterpillar, Cummins, Wartsila and MAN engines on a dynamometer bench. The science and technology division designs ships and naval artifacts, runs an accredited calibration laboratory, and develops command and control systems, tactical networks, integrated communications and cryptographic systems for military and security customers. Exports have reached Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, the Netherlands and Guyana, which for a yard founded in 2000 is a quick march from repair contracts to selling warships abroad.