Christened Betelgeuse, in accordance with the Dominican tradition of naming naval vessels after constellations, designed a new patrol vessel at Metal Shark's Franklin, La. shipyard, and formally accepted into the Dominican Navy during a ceremony at the Las Calderas Navy Base on August 6.

NCPV is a monohull vessel that uses the parent-craft hull form of the Dames Shipyards 2606 Standardized Patrol vessel optimized by Metal Shark to meet NCPV requirements. The vessel is designed to support a wide range of missions, including search and rescue, border patrols, police and customs duties, counter-narcotics operations and the securing of economically important waters.

Driven by twin 1,600-horsepower Caterpillar C-32 marine diesel engines turning Michigan Fixed-pitch Wheel propellers through Twin Disc MGX-6599 transmissions, the NCPV has been designed for missions up to six days at sea under nearshore ocean conditions, carrying an operating crew of 10.

"Metal Shark has worked extensively with the U.S. Navy to design and build this highly capable platform which will bolster the effectiveness of maritime security and counter-drug missions across Latin American and the Caribbean,” said Henry Irizarry, Metal Shark’s Vice President of International Business Development.

Maritime Business World