The Diplomat
Navantia launched yesterday, in San Fernando, the third of the five corvettes it is building at the Bahía de Cádiz shipyard for the Royal Saudi Arabian Navy (RSNF), which bears the name HAIL, in homage to this city in the north of the country.
The launching took place at 16.15 hours, the ideal time depending on the tides and wind, according to the shipping company.
The weather forecast for the next few days, which predicts strong winds in the Bay, made it advisable to cancel the ceremony that was scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday 30. Instead, the launching took place as a working act in the shipyard.
The ceremony was attended by Navantia’s Director of Operations and Business, Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero, the director of the shipyard in Bahía de Cádiz, José Antonio Rodríguez Poch, and Captain Abdullah Alsheri, liaison officer for the Avante 2200 Programme, representing Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, commander of the Royal Navy of Saudi Arabia.
The corvette slid down the slipway until it touched the water and construction will continue in this environment until its delivery, scheduled for December 2022. The Spanish and Saudi Arabian anthems were played during the launching.
The HAIL corvette is the third of the five that make up the Avante 2200 programme. It has a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and will be capable of carrying a total of 102 crew and passengers. It will reach a maximum speed of 27 knots and, among other aspects, has the capacity to carry 21 days’ supplies on board.
The design of the corvettes is state-of-the-art, maximising Navantia’s participation through the incorporation of its own products, such as the CATIZ combat system, the HERMESYS integrated communications system, the DORNA fire control system, the Integrated Platform Control System and the MINERVA integrated bridge, together with other equipment developed by Navantia under licence, such as the MTU engines and the RENK gearboxes.
This contract, in force since November 2018, strengthens Navantia’s immediate future and benefits all the company’s shipyards and its auxiliary industry, especially the entire Bay of Cadiz.
It will mean an overall workload of around seven million hours, i.e. 6,000 jobs per year for five years. Of these, more than 1,100 will be directly employed by Navantia, more than 1,800 will be in the auxiliary industry and more than 3,000 will be indirectly employed by other suppliers. More than 100 auxiliary companies will collaborate in the programme.
The contract, whose last vessel is due to be delivered in 2024, includes, in addition to construction, Life Cycle Support for five years from the delivery of the first vessel, with an option for a further five years.
It also includes the provision of various services, such as integrated logistic support, operational and maintenance training, provision of Training and Training Centres for the Combat System and Platform Control System of the ships, Life Cycle Support and systems for the maintenance of the ships at the Jeddah Naval Base.
