Is Varela actually a competent detective?

In spite of being in charge of the safety of the ship in High Seas, Detective Varela does not have a good record on security.

• He failed to notice a person being carried in someone's luggage. Twice.

• He failed to notice that said stowaway did not die, and was sneaking around the ship with someone else.

• He let a witness die in his custody.

• He failed to notice, or really even investigate, a scam that was being perpetrated against a variety of passengers...

• ...or to suspect the story of the supposed castaways who perpetrated it.

• He did not adequately prevent Carlos from escaping.

• He incorrectly insinuated that Natalia had killed Rosa Marín.

That said, he certainly talks like a competent, street-smart operator, and he does have a few successes. Most notably, he correctly concluded that Natalia and Clara had killed Aníbal, and blackmailed the former for money. He was also able to convince Pierre to stay quiet by convincing him that he, Varela, was planning to report Natalia to the authorities, using the money she had given him as evidence. His skepticism of Sofia's story proved completely correct. And, after all, his conclusion that anyone could have used Fernando's gun did prove to be correct: he was just mistaken about who it was.

Is Varela supposed to be portrayed as a competent detective who understandably misses some of the convoluted plots that surround him, or a bit of a pretender who merely thinks he is a hard-boiled private eye?