The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, visited yesterday the Navantia shipyard, in the Galician town of Ferrol, where he presided over the ceremony with which the construction of the first frigate of the F-110 Program has started.
“The future of the Ferrol shipyard is assured in the short and medium term through the F-110 Program, which will boost the development of the industrial and business fabric of the region”, declared Mr. Sánchez after activating the first sheet metal cutting device, which marks the beginning of the construction of the first frigate of this series, which will have a direct investment of 4,320 million Euros and will generate 9,000 direct and indirect jobs until the year 2031.
The President of the Government also highlighted the “fundamental role of Navantia in the naval sector”, which employs 70,000 people and has an annual turnover of 7,500 million euros. “Navantia will be the protagonist of the Naval PERTE recently approved thanks to European funds, which will have a public investment of 310 million euros, which will allow mobilizing another 1,150 million of private investment and create more than 3,000 quality jobs”, said Sánchez, who was accompanied by the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, and the Minister of Finance and Public Function, María Jesús Montero.
The Government approved in 2019 the Program for the F-110 frigate, “destined to become the fundamental pillar of the Spanish Navy’s fleet”, according to Navantia. The project, which will be carried out in Ferrol, foresees the construction of five multipurpose ocean escort vessels, optimized to operate in littoral, designed to operate in high-intensity scenarios and with combat capability in all major areas of warfare and to carry out medium and high-demand missions efficiently. The first ship will be available for use in early 2027.
The Chief Executive also the Government’s commitment to the deployment of renewable energies to reindustrialize the country and highlighted the importance of the naval sector to strengthen Spain’s energy independence, given its high capacity for shipbuilding, key to the development of offshore wind energy. “Spain has sufficient natural resources to become the leading country in Europe in the generation and export of renewable energies,” he said.
