# Peruvian Coast Guard

The Directorate General of Captaincies and Coast Guard of Peru (DICAPI, Spanish: Dirección General de Capitanías y Guardacostas del Perú) is the maritime authority and the Peruvian Coast Guard, the same one that carries out the control and surveillance work in maritime, fluvial and lacustrine environments, as well as search and rescue tasks. It is attached to the Navy of Peru, and according to law is empowered to exercise the maritime, fluvial and lacustrine police in order to apply and enforce the national regulations and international instruments of which Peru is a party, for ensure the protection and safety of human life in the aquatic environment, the protection of the aquatic environment and its resources, as well as repress illicit activities within its jurisdiction.

## History

Maritime law enforcement activities dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, such activities is usually performed by sailors. By the end of 17th century, several port captaincies were formally established due to the urgent need to maintain order in the ports. Later on, the captaincy system is organized into Captaincy Directorate. Directorate General of Captaincies and Coast Guard was established on 5 August 1919 by Supreme Decree. Current captaincies and coast guard were created by Decree Law No. 17824 of 23 September 1969, the Captaincy and Coast Guard Corps.
As of April 2022, Vice Admiral César Ernesto Colunge Pinto serve as Director General of DICAPI and assisted by Rear Admiral Pastor Ludwig Zanabria Acosta as Director Executive of DICAPI.

## Equipment

Currently the Peruvian Coast Guard is composed by two offshore patrol ships, twelve coastal patrol ships, sixteen port patrol boats, and speedboats for bay control, river patrol boats, river speedboats, lake patrol boats, lake speedboats and motorboats for river interdiction, two Sea King helicopters for SAR operations, a Twin Otter hydroplane as well as a fleet of operational vehicles which strengthens operations by coast police of Coast Guard Captaincies.
| Ship class | Rio Cañete | PGM 71 | Rio Pativilca |
| Displacement | 296 t | 147 t | 500 t |
| Dimensions | 50.9×7.4×1.7 m | 36.0×6.4×1.8 m | 55.3×8.5×2.3 m |
| Propulsion | 4 Bazan/MTU V8V 16/18 TLS diesels 5,640 shp (4,210 kW), 2 shafts | 2 GM Detroit Diesel GN-71 diesels 1,450 shp (1,080 kW), 2 shafts | 2 Caterpillar3516C HD diesels 3,345 shp (2,494 kW), 2 shafts |
| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h) | 18 knots (33 km/h) | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
| Range | 3,050 nmi (6,000 km) at 17 knots (30 km/h) | 1,500 nmi (3,000 km) at 10 knots (20 km/h) | 3,600 nmi (7,000 km) at 14 knots (30 km/h) |
| Crew | 39 (4 officers) | 18 (4 officers) | 25 (5 officer) + 14 Boarding Team |
| Armament | 1 x 20mm Oerlikon Mk.10 AA gun 2 x 12.7mm machine guns | 1 x 20mm Oerlikon Mk.10 AA gun 2 x 12.7mm machine guns | 1 x 30 mm Typhoon 2 x 12.7mm MiniTyphoon machine guns |
| Equipment | 1 Decca 1226 navigation radar VHF/UHF SATCOM transceiver | 1 Raytheon navigation radar | 1 Toplite EOS (Electro-Optical, Surveillance and reconnaisannce) |

### Ships

| Vessel | Origin | Builder | Class | In service | Notes |
| Offshore patrol vessel (1 in service) ||||||
| BAP Guardiamarina San Martin (PO-201) | Italy | Cantieri Navali Riuniti (CNR) | Lupo class | Yes | commissioned on December 26, 2013; ex-BAP Carvajal (FM-51) transferred from the Navy after being stripped down of its missile weaponry and main radar, reclassified as Patrullera Oceánica (Offshore patrol vessel) |
| Coastal patrol vessel (12 in service) ||||||
| BAP Rio Pativilca (PM-204) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Pativilca class | Yes | commissioned in 2016; (Offshore patrol vessel) |
| BAP Rio Cañete (PM-205) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Pativilca class | Yes | commissioned in 2016; (Offshore patrol vessel) |
| BAP Rio Piura (PM-206) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Pativilca class | Yes | commissioned in 2017; (Offshore patrol vessel) |
| BAP Rio Quilca (PM-207) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Pativilca class | Yes | commissioned in 2017(Offshore patrol vessel) |
| BAP BAP Rio Tumbes (PM-208) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Pativilca class | Yes | commissioned in 2020(Offshore patrol vessel) |
| BAP Rio Locumba (PM-209) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Pativilca class | Yes | commissioned in 2020(Offshore patrol vessel) |
| BAP Río Chira (PC-223) | Peru | SIMA Callao | PGM 71 class | Yes | commissioned in June 1972; originally transferred from Navy to Coast Guard in 1975, then paid off in 1994, restored to service in 1997 after engines refurbished. |
| BAP Río Nepeña (PC-243) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Cañete class | Yes | commissioned on December 1, 1981; refitted between 1996 and 1998 |
| BAP Río Tambo (PC-244) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Cañete class | Yes | commissioned in 1982; refitted between 1996 and 1998 |
| BAP Río Ocoña (PC-245) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Cañete class | Yes | commissioned in 1983; refitted in 1996 |
| BAP Río Huarmey (PC-246) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Cañete class | Yes | commissioned in 1984; refitted between 1996 and 1998 |
| BAP Río Zaña (PC-247) | Peru | SIMA Chimbote | Rio Cañete class | Yes | commissioned on February 12, 1985; refitted between 1996 and 1998 |
| Hospital ship (1 in service) ||||||
| BAP Puno (ABH-306) | United Kingdom | James Watt Foundry, Birmingham | Yavarí class | Yes | commissioned in 1870; ex-Yapurá, now operates as a hospital ship |

### Decommissioned ships

| Vessel | Origin | Builder | Class | Decommissioned | Notes |
| BAP Río Piura (PC-242) | Italy | Viareggio | Río Zarumilla class | 2010 | commissioned on September 5, 1960; refitted in 1996. sunk near Pisco on August 12, 2010 |

## Aircraft

| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Version | In service | Notes |
| Helicopters ||||||
| Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King | United States | SAR helicopter | UH-3H | 2 | six acquired from the US Foreign Military Sales program along with 12 GE T58-GE-40 engines for US$6 million. First two delivered in December, 2010, to be employed in the Makassar class LPDs, two for the Coast Guard, two in storage. |
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | Canada | seaplane | DHC-6-100 | 1 | used for patrol and liaison duties in the Peruvian portion of the Amazon Basin |

## Sources

* Peruvian Coast Guard Website
* Jane's Fighting Ships 2004-2005