The Salvadoran PM-15 ship is used to combat drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal fishing, piracy, and other types of criminal acts on the Salvadoran coast. The ship was received in July 2021 in cooperation efforts between El Salvador and the United States, against drug trafficking in maritime areas.
Among the main objectives of maritime patrol are border security, drug trafficking along the Central American corridor, and fighting organized crime groups. The presence of the ships represents the integration of the inter-institutional actions from the Territorial Control Plan.
The Government of Nicaragua sent a “strong protest for the violation of Nicaraguan maritime space by military ships with artillery from the Salvadoran Naval Force”.
“The Salvadoran military ship, PM-15, entered last Friday at 04:45 a.m., 50 nautical miles southwest of Punta Cosigüina, in the extreme northwest of the Pacific of Nicaragua” — The Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, said in a letter addressed to her Salvadoran counterpart, Alexandra Hill.
