Navantia has won a contract with the Royal Navy of Morocco for the design and construction of an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). The project will create some 250 direct jobs over the next three and a half years in the Bay of Cádiz, where another BAM-IS-class vessel for the Spanish Navy will also be built.
The contract was announced on Friday, January 8, 2021 by the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, during a visit to the San Fernando shipyard together with the president of Navantia, Mrs. Belén Gualda. The project has been actively supported by the Spanish Government. This achievement opens the doors to future contracts for similar units, which essentially means more hours and more jobs for the Spanish naval industry.
Last April, Morocco launched a tender for the construction of an OPV. Given the interest of several shipyards from different countries, Navantia presented its offer in August and a team from the company visited Morocco to directly negotiate all technical and commercial requirements. As a result, Navantia was awarded with the contract.
The project includes the design of the ship and once the engineering works are completed, construction will begin. Navantia already supplied patrol boats and a corvette to the Royal Moroccan Navy in the eighties and this contract takes that path again.
Navantia is a world reference in the design, construction and integration of state-of-the-art warships, as well as ship repairs and modernizations. In addition, its lines of activity include the design and manufacture of Command and Control Systems, Fire Control Systems, Integrated Communications Systems, Integrated Navigation and Bridge Systems, Integrated Platform Control Systems, Propulsion Plants and Life Cycle Support for all its products. Although its main activity is the naval field, Navantia also designs and manufactures systems for the Army.
Navantia belongs to the SEPI Group, a holding company which includes a total of 15 Spanish state-owned enterprises in which it has a direct and majority shareholding, with more than 74,000 professionals. It also has a foundation and direct minority shareholdings in another 9 companies, and indirect shareholdings in more than 100 companies.
