In early 2025, Zona Militar reported that the United States government once again offered Uruguay the transfer of a medium-endurance Reliance-class offshore patrol vessel to the Uruguayan National Navy. This is not the first time Washington has made such an offer. Between 2021 and 2022, during the administration of President Luis Lacalle Pou and with Javier García as Minister of Defense, the proposal had already been informally discussed. The reason was clear: the United States viewed with concern the fact that China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), a powerful Chinese state-owned shipyard, was among the bidders in the international tender for the construction of two OPVs, ultimately emerging as the highest-rated proposal.
In December 2022, the U.S. offer was formalized through a diplomatic note after Congress approved the transfer under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program.
Subsequently, in 2023, following the Uruguayan government’s decision to declare null and void the international tender that would have awarded construction to CSSC, and in the absence of an alternative OPV project, the United States once again pushed its Reliance-class proposal.
The current circumstances under which this patrol vessel is being offered bear clear similarities to previous situations. First, the present uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the construction of the two OPVs with the Cardama shipyard—currently under judicial and political review—raises a strong possibility that the Uruguayan Navy may once again be forced to restart the OPV project from scratch, as has happened before. Within this context, the U.S. offer appears timely and strategically significant.
Second, it is evident that the current authorities have pursued closer diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China, something that has not gone unnoticed in Washington. One example is the 2025 visit by Defense Minister Sandra Lazo to the Chinese shipyard that had won the annulled tender, at a time when she was criticized for not visiting the Cardama shipyard while in Spain.
This week, coincidentally or not, a vessel of the Chinese Navy made its first official visit to a Uruguayan port. Although it was a hospital ship—carrying less symbolic weight than a warship—the circumstances of the visit and the strong presence of national authorities in its agenda give it significant political and diplomatic value.
At the same time, the Uruguayan government is preparing for an official visit to China scheduled for early next month. The large delegation will be led by President Yamandú Orsi and will include several ministers, heads of public institutions, business leaders, and union representatives, making it one of the largest delegations ever to accompany a president on an overseas visit. However, there is a key difference compared to previous U.S. offers: the international context—and particularly the regional one—is highly sensitive to the aggressive foreign policy pursued by President Trump, especially among left-wing governments.
Reliance-class cutters are the smallest ocean-going cutters in service, measuring 62 meters in length and displacing 1,200 tons. They rank below their larger counterparts: the Hamilton class (115 m / 3,250 t) and the Famous class (82 m / 1,800 t). They were also the first to be built, between 1964 and 1969.
Between 1986 and 1996, the Reliance-class vessels underwent mid-life maintenance availability programs to update machinery and equipment. Under the EDA program, only surplus equipment—meaning assets decommissioned from active service—is transferred. In this case, these are very old ships; even since their mid-life upgrades, more than 30 years have passed. This means they would necessarily require a basic maintenance and upgrade process to continue operating for a few more years. Furthermore, while the EDA program stipulates that the vessels are transferred at no cost, they must be delivered in good operational condition, which entails expenses that must be borne by Uruguay. In 2022, the transfer of three Marine Protector–class coastal patrol vessels under the same program cost USD 5 million in total. In this case, costs are estimated to be around USD 10 million. Therefore, the offer does not represent a real solution to meet the Navy’s current OPV requirements; if anything, the Hamilton class appears more suitable given its characteristics.
If the construction project with Cardama ultimately collapses, the Uruguayan Navy will face a critical scenario: several years without the vessels needed to guarantee sovereignty over its vast maritime territory—larger even than its continental territory. In that context, the transfer of Reliance-class patrol vessels would take on a different relevance. However, within the current political scenario, the U.S. proposal to donate surplus equipment seems to respond more to a strategic move aimed at influencing the Uruguayan government’s decision-making than to a purely technical assessment by the Navy.
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