A new (very small) ship for the Argentine Navy

[Redpossum]

Tandanor celebró sus primeros 143 años con la botadura de un nuevo buque hidrográfico | Se trata de la nueva nave Swath Hidrográfica ARA "Petrel"

La nave estará asignada al Servicio de Hidrografía Naval con la misión de proveer seguridad a la navegación en las aguas nacionales mediante la confección y mantenimiento de cartas náuticas, y la instalación y mantenimiento de boyas, balizas y faros.

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Google Translated. As usual, the banner is in Castellano, and when you click on it the story will initially appear in that tongue, but if you wait a few seconds, it will change to English.

I have written before in these forums about my concern for the shipyards of this nation, once a thriving industry which provided thousands of jobs. This story is a very small glimmer of hope, (the ship is only 30 meters long, with a displacement of 205 tons, really more like a boat than a ship), but it is something.

I noted with pained amusement that the officer assigned as CO of this new vessel is a 35-year old lieutenant. In the USN, I would think there was something severely wrong with the carer of an officer who was still a lieutenant at 35, but perhaps that's just slow advancement in a navy with no ships. They did think enough of him to give him a ship, finally.

Anyhow, see what you think.

 

[Ries]

The ramifications of building THIS boat right now are pretty complex and interesting.
Its "naval", but in reality, its economic, scientific, and a response to acknowleding the reality of climate change.
So it reinforces the essential useless nature of the Argentine military, by using them as a front to spend money on a project that is a pretty farsighted, if late, response to climate change, and how it will affect the Argentine economy.
The changing of rain patterns has made the Rio Plate shallower and less navigable. And that is destined to happen more in the future.
This boat was built mainly to facilitate the Magdalena Channel project, which is a plan to dredge a new channel in the very shallow Rio Plata, to allow direct shipment of Argentine exports from Rosario to foreign countries, without the involvement of Uruguay, and to alleviate the extreme slowdowns to the overloading of the current only way out, which is the Punta Indio channel.
75% of all Argentine foreign trade goes thru Punta Indio right now.
And its in Uruguayan territorial waters for part of its run.
This channel, which for some reason was opposed, or at least not encouraged by Macri, will make exports cheaper, faster, and safer.
Seems like kinda a nobrainer to me. But its taken 9 years to get this boat built, which is a necessary prerequisite to the project as a whole.

El Canal Magdalena, se prepara la licitación para la nueva salida al mar para el comercio exterior argentino

La iniciativa es impulsada por el gobierno de Alberto Fernández para mejorar los tiempos de navegación, reducir costos y dar mayor autonomía al comercio marítimo. De qué se trata.

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