The Diplomat
The S-81 ‘Isaac Peral’ submarine touched sea water for the first time yesterday and is now moored at the Navantia shipyard’s armament dock in Cartagena, where it will begin the next phase of its development, the harbour trials.
In order to carry out the manoeuvre, the submarine was placed last Wednesday in the floating dock. Throughout yesterday, the necessary work was carried out to place the submarine in the water in safe conditions and ready for testing. The dock was moved to the trench, the part of the basin with the necessary draught to flood it.
There it was submerged by flooding its ballast, and the submarine began to touch the water and, little by little, to float on its own, while Navantia personnel and the crew carried out various safety checks inside the vessel.
Afterwards, with the help of the pilots, tugs and pushers, the submarine was taken out of the dock and transferred to the armament dock. The submarine has no operational propulsion until the port trials on moorings have been completed.
“The launch is a safety milestone in the construction of the submarine and is also a great event for Navantia and its professionals and for all those involved in this great project,” said the company’s president, Ricardo Domínguez. “All together, the Navy, the Ministry of Defence, Navantia and its industry partners are making a qualitative leap in our strategic capabilities and our projection in the international market,” he added.
Together with the management of Navantia and the Cartagena shipyard, the manoeuvre was attended by the State Secretary for Defence, Esperanza Casteleiro, and personnel from the Directorate General for Armaments and Material (DGAM); as well as Navy officials, headed by the Chief Admiral of Logistics Support (AJAL), Admiral Aniceto Rosique Nieto and the Admiral of the Cartagena Arsenal (ALARCART), Vice Admiral Pedro Luis de la Puente García-Ganges; as well as the president of the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), Belén Gualda.
The S-81 ‘Isaac Peral’ submarine was sponsored by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias in a ceremony presided over by His Majesty the King which took place at the Cartagena Shipyard on 22 April.
From now on, the port trials will allow all the ship’s systems to be tested, with various safety milestones, such as the loading of diesel oil, battery charging and the propulsion test on moorings. Sea trials will begin in the first quarter of 2022 and a year later it will be handed over to the Spanish Navy.
