Navantia Begins Work on 8 Venezuelan Patrol Boats
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is a Corvette…
On Nov 28/05, Navantia and the Navy of Venezuela signed a contract for the construction of eight patrol vessels for a total amount of more than EUR 1.2 billion: 4 coastal patrol vessels and 4 larger “Economic Area Vessels.” Venezuela’s increasingly aggressive regional policies and arms buildup triggered US efforts to block the transfer of American technologies, and left Navantia very careful not to refer to the larger vessels with a military name like ‘corvettes.’ While the corresponding deal for CASA’s air transports and maritime surveillance aircraft appears to have been shot down, workaround have evidently been found for the larger naval deal and it is going ahead. On May 26/06, Venezuela and Navantia formally signed off and construction of the eight vessels can now begin.
The news release has no permanent URL on Navantia’s own site, but can be found here. It notes that his contract means 4.5 million working hours for the shipyard and the auxiliary industry around the de San Fernando-Puerto Real shipyard in Bay of Cadiz. This will keep the shipyard busy until the end of 2011, and also helps Navantia develop an up-to-date set of [coastal patrol vessel/ cutter/ corvette] offerings for the global export market.
Oct 16/08: Navantia announces delivery of the first vessel at San Fernando-Puerto Real shipyard, in Southern Spain – the 79m “Guaicamacuto.”
