Construction of patrol boat for Morocco’s navy by Spanish Navatia starts in July
The construction of the Avante 1800 type patrol boat intended for the Moroccan Royal Navy will be officially launched on July 3, announced the Spanish Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero.
The Finance Minister María Jesús Montero told the Spanish broadcasting station Cadena SER that the construction works of the Moroccan patrol boat Avante 1800 will start on July 3, 2023 at Navantia’s Bay of Cadiz facility, with a sheet metal cutting operation.
The call for tenders for the boat construction was launched in April 2020 and the announcement of the contract winner was made more than two years ago, in January 2021.
The Navantia’s manager had then explained, in a press conference, that the project will require one million hours of work for some 250 jobs over three and a half years. However, the boat construction will create around 1,100 direct and indirect jobs in the Cadiz region.
The construction of the Avante 1800 ship, of the latest generation, which will join the Royal Navy, will take place thanks to a €90 million loan that Banco Santander granted to Rabat. However, the loan will only cover part of the purchase of the patrol boat, whose price oscillates between 130 and 150 million euros. Navantia had proposed the construction of two units worth 260 million euros.
It should be recalled that the Avante 1800 patrol boat is a modern high-altitude vessel that will strengthen Morocco’s maritime surveillance and defense capabilities. He is 89 meters long and 13.3 meters wide, and can accommodate an average crew of 46. The original design envisions the incorporation of a 76mm gun and missile launch system, along with modern sensors and radars and a bridge for a helicopter.
Navantia’s Bay of Cadiz facility is the largest owned by the company. In this area, Navantia has one of the largest dry-docks in the world with a capacity to build vessels up to 500 meters long and 100 m wide, along with the two largest gantry cranes in Spain. Navantia’s Bay of Cadiz centers are specialized in the construction of ocean-going patrol vessels, large military vessels, fast patrol vessels and special vessels, such as the Coastal Survey Vessels, Oceanic Survey Patrol Vessels, Maritime Action Maritime Ships, Combat Support Vessels etc.
