The U.S. Embassy donated about $1,840,000 to the Ministry of Public Security (MSP) to refurbish one of the country's largest Coast Guard patrol vessels.


According to the ministry, the vessel named Libertador Juan Rafael Mora had been out of service for almost a year while being repaired in Colombia.


The 110-foot-class patrol of the National Coast Guard missions consists of maritime homeland security, migrant interdiction, drug interdiction, defense operations, fisheries enforcement and search and rescue.


The ship can go up to 4,000 miles without making a port call, allowing officials to monitor isolated marine locations such as Cocos Island and undertake patrol journeys for up to three weeks straight.


In 2016, the United States donated two Island-class cutter patrol boats to Costa Rica, valued at $18.9 million.

The ships are currently the Costa Rican Coast Guard fleet's biggest vessels, one is the 110-foot Libertador Juan Rafael Mora (named after the President from 1849 to 1859) and the 110-foot General José María Cañas, named after the Secretary of War under Juan Rafael Mora Porras' administration in 1849.

The $1.8 million donation is one of numerous contributions made by the United States to Costa Rica. Recently, the U.S. donated ten Nighthawk scanners worth $800,000.

As part of the Joint Patrol Treaty with the United States, the U.S. Coast Guard recently led an anti-drug operation that resulted in the arrest of five Colombians for trafficking more than half a ton of cocaine.

The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) is the government agency in charge of ensuring citizen security, preserving public order, forming police units, and coordinating anti-crime initiatives.

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