Argentina to Spend $157 Million to Build 4 Navy Patrol Vessels

BUENOS AIRES – The Argentine government announced that it plans to spend 600 million pesos ($157.8 million) to build four ships for the purpose of “preserving national sovereignty in territorial waters and (Argentina’s) exclusive economic zone.” 

Thee Multipurpose Oceanic Patrol Boats represent “Argentina’s largest investment in naval defense equipment in more than a decade,” Defense Minister Nilda Garre said in a ceremony on Friday. “President Cristina Fernandez has already made the decision and granted the multi-year budget with which (the four vessels) will be built at the Tandanor-Alte Storni complex,” the minister added. Garre made the announcement at a ceremony to mark the 130th anniversary of the Tandanor shipyards, which in 2007 returned to state hands after being privatized in 1991. Tandanor, one of the biggest ship-repair yards in South America, has facilities within the port zone of the city of Buenos Aires, occupying a 21-hectare (52-acre) area with 1,400 meters (4,590 feet) of wharf space. Source:laht.com