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Navantia delivers the fifth corvette built in Bahia de Cadiz to the Royal Saudi Navy in Jeddah

King Faisal Naval Base, Jeddah,

On Thursday, 7 March 2024 at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah, His Royal Highness, Minister of Defence, Prince Khaled Bin Salman, the Chief of Staff, General Fayyad bin Hamed al Ruwaili, and His Excellency, Chief of Staff of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF), Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, presided over the commissioning of the fifth corvette  built at Navantia’s Bay of Cadiz shipyard for the RSNF.

The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Defence, Dr. Albiyari; the President of Navantia, Mr. Ricardo Domínguez; the Undersecretary of Procurement, Ibrahim Alsuwayed; the CEO of SAMI, Walid Abukhaled; and the CEO of SAMINavantia, Sofía Honrubia.

On this special occasion, His Excellency Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, delivered a speech to mark the delivery of HMS UNAYZAH (C550), the fifth and final corvette of the Al-Sarawat project. This project aimed to create some of the world’s most advanced and powerful corvettes to meet national mandates under Saudi Vision 2030. HMS UNAYZAH, like the rest of her class, is equipped with unique capabilities to handle multiple combat missions with exceptional efficiency, enhance the combat readiness of the RSNF, defend the strategic and vital interests of the Kingdom, and maintain maritime security in the region.

His Excellency also highlighted the localisation of defence capabilities development and integration carried out onboard HMS UNAYZAH in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by Saudi Arabian Military Industry (SAMI) in the Al-Sarawat project. The successful completion of extensive combat systems trials and live firings carried out in KSA has significantly contributed to achieving one of the Ministry of Defence’s strategies to localize over 50 percent of the total military expenditure by 2030 in line with the Kingdom’s Vision.

In his speech, His Excellency Vice Admiral Al-Ghofaily expressed his utmost gratitude and appreciation to His Majesty, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Salman, Minister of Defence, for their endless support, care, and attention given to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. As the ceremony concluded, His Excellency attributed a great deal of the Al-Sarawat program’s success to Navantia’s commitment and expressed his gratitude to Mr Ricardo Dominguez, the Chairman of Navantia, for the company’s exceptional achievements.

The corvette, named HMS UNAYZAH (C550), was transported to Jeddah on a specialised vessel and underwent final construction and systems integration works, confirming the technology transfer (ToT) and production localisation capability of Navantia to the SAMINavantia joint venture. Under the contract, Navantia agreed with SAMI to create a joint venture in Saudi Arabia, which allows Navantia to position its integrated systems and technologically advanced solutions in the Arab market and area of influence.

The corvettes are based on the AVANTE 2200 design, which has been adapted to meet the requirements of the RSNF and now known in the company’s portfolio as the Alpha 3000. They offer advanced performance, excellent work at sea, high survivability, and the ability to operate in extreme temperatures. They have a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and accommodate a total of 102 people (crew and passengers).

Around 700 crew members, engineers, and maintainers of these corvettes are completing the education and training process at the Navantia Training Center (NTC) in San Fernando, Spain.

Navantia, a Spanish shipbuilding company, has constructed five corvettes for the Royal Saudi Navy and has achieved this milestone in a record time of three years. The first unit was launched in July 2020, and the remaining four were launched within four months of each other. Deliveries are taking place just over three years from the cutting of the first plate of each ship.

The contract for construction of the corvettes assumes a global workload of around seven million hours and 6,000 jobs over five years. More than 1,100 are direct employees, more than 1,800 collaborating industry employees (more than a hundred companies participate in the program), and more than 3,000 indirect employees generated by other suppliers. The program includes, in addition to construction, the Life Cycle Support for five years from the delivery of the first ship, with an option for another five additional years. The last ship must be delivered in 2024. It also includes the provision of various services, such as integrated logistics support, operational and maintenance training, provision of Education and Training Centres for the Combat System and Platform Control System of ships, Life Cycle Support, and ship maintenance systems at the Jeddah Naval Base.

About Navantia S.A. S.M.E.

With a history of more than 300 years linked to the construction of ships for the Navy, Navantia is a state-owned and strategic technology company for the defense of Spain. Its areas of specialization range from shipbuilding (surface and submarine), to the design and integration of systems with a high technological content and life cycle support and high value-added services. Additionally, with its brand Navantia Seanergies, it is a global supplier for the development of offshore wind energy and other green energies such as hydrogen. Navantia employs nearly 4,000 people directly in Spain, mainly at its offices in Ferrol and Fene (A Coruña), Puerto, Real, San Fernando, Cádiz and Rota (Cádiz), Cartagena (Murcia Region) and Madrid.

Committed to building a safe and sustainable future through technological excellence and industrial collaboration, Navantia has contracts with Governments and companies around the world and ties with universities and technological and academic centers. It contributes to sustainability and innovation through its daily commitment to people and the planet, with responsible practices from the point of view of labour, the environment and economic and technological development that are viable regionally, nationally and internationally. It is owned 100% by the Sociedad Española de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), attached to the Ministry of Finance and Public Function of Spain).

The C550 HMS UNAYZAH was launched in December 2021 at Navantia’s San Fernando shipyard and was transported to the Saudi base where its construction was completed.

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