Ships of all sizes have become involved in the Combined Task Force 150 to battle piracy off the Somali Coast: in 2008 one OPV from an undisclosed European nation revealed a state of the art boarding system has helped its crew inspect suspected pirate ships in a safer manner.
Australia has already laid out spending plans which will see it add 20 new combatant OPVs to its fleet. In May 2009, the country's minister for defence Joel Fitzgibbon announced his latest white paper by saying: "The ability to establish local sea control is essential to maintaining freedom of navigation in our immediate region, protecting the ships that carry the life blood of our economy, preventing attacks on Australia or its offshore territories and resources, and supporting land forces."
Piracy is not the only threat faced by countries in the 21st Century – the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks entered the country after hijacking a fishing boat. The Commons Defence Committee has pointed out that the UK could be vulnerable to similar attack. The Royal Navy only has six warships, two OPVs and a support tanker protecting more than 7,000 miles of coastline. The committee said: "There is a strong case for developing a deterrent capability in relation to threats to civilian maritime targets."
Territorial disputes form another reason for OPV acquisition. Chile’s government-owned shipyard launched the second of 4 patrulleros de zona maritime (PZM) OPVs under the Chilean Navy’s Danubio IV project in 2008, while Argentina’s Project PAM (Patrulleros de Alta Mar) is for up to 5 OPVs of 1,800 tons. With a length of over 80m, the ships are to have diesel propulsion and to be armed with a 40mm gun. Namibia has started to develop its own naval defence force having relied on South Africa to protect its territorial waters. It has organised training for its naval officers at the Brazilian Navy School. The recent discovery of oil in the South American country has meant that Brazil is another emerging market.