The Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, led this afternoon at the Naval Apostadero Buenos Aires the ceremony of arrival in the country of the Multipurpose Ocean patrol boat (OPV) ARA “Storni” (P-53) from France. This vessel, acquired with a budget item corresponding to the National Defense Fund (FONDEF), is incorporated into the force to expand the surveillance, control and defense capabilities of national maritime resources, among other missions.
“We are very happy to receive today the third IPO that aims to continue providing our country, through these naval means, with the capacity to carry out an adequate patrol of the Exclusive Economic Zone and maritime areas for the fulfillment of different missions imposed by current regulations,” said the minister upon receiving this third unit of a series of four multipurpose ocean patrol boats that will be added to the Navy.
“The IPOs that have already been delivered are operational and allow the Argentine Navy to carry out operations essential to the defense of Argentina’s sovereign interests at sea. As for example the ARA “Bouchard” that at this moment is located at the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan to monitor the passage through the Argentine Sea of an international fishing fleet, “said the Minister.
Likewise, Taiana highlighted: “The incorporation of this new IPO reinforces operational capabilities of the Argentine Navy for greater maritime patrolling of the EEZ and the area of maritime interests; care of the renewable and non-renewable resources of the sea and the fulfillment of international commitments regarding the capacity to provide support for the safeguarding of human life at sea and the improvement of support to antarctic Bases”.
The ARA “Storni” is the third of the ocean patrol boats from France. In February 2020 the first ARA “Bouchard” IPO was received and in June 2021, the second ARA “Piedrabuena” arrived at the Mar del Plata Naval Base. The reception of the last of the series called ARA “Rear Admiral Cordero” is projected for 2022 and will offer the same advantages and characteristics as the previous ones.
The patrol boat ARA “Storni”, built by the firm Naval Group at the Piriou Shipyard, located in the French town of Concarneau, had its launch on May 10, 2020. Subsequently, on October 13, 2021, it was delivered to the Argentine Navy and with the hoisting of the national flag, the incorporation of said unit into the National State was concretized. These acquisitions take place within the framework of the “Maritime Naval Patrol Capacity Recovery Project” carried out by the Argentine Navy.
Among its technical characteristics, an optimized motorization system, an active stabilization system and a bow thruster stand out. It is also “ice proven”, that is, it adapts to navigation in the cold waters of Antarctica.
The ships already delivered are in operation and allow the Argentine Navy to carry out operations essential to the defense of Argentina’s sovereign interests at sea.
On November 10, the patrol boat sailed from the Kership Shipyard, in the town of Concarneau (in the south of France), under the command of Frigate Captain Oscar Luis Latorre, with its crew composed of 42 sailors. Crew that had arrived in Concarneau four months before its departure to start the Training and Operation Program of the unit teams in charge of the Naval Group University, which allowed it to operate and carry out the basic maintenance of the ship.
The training in the French city included the presence of instructors from all the components of the unit and, once the theoretical courses were completed, practices were done on board both in port and in navigation. In this way, before his arrival in the country, an arduous work of instruction and training of the endowment in that unit was carried out.
In addition, as part of the preparation, before leaving for Concarneau the crew enlisted and trained previously in Argentina aboard the Oceanic Patrol Boat “Piedrabuena” while in France they took courses on weapon system, propulsion course and generators, communications system, radar system, among others.
The oceanic patrol boat ARA “Storni”, was named in honor of the Argentine sailor who promoted the debate on the need to consider the issues of the sea and naval activity as a whole, as State policies. In this way, his figure led to the need to consolidate in the mentality of Argentines the maritime consciousness with a scientific basis and that is why, in coincidence with the date of his birth, July 16 was instituted as “Day of Argentine interests at sea”.
Present with the minister were the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Juan Martín Paleo; and the heads of the General Staff of the Navy, Admiral Julio Horacio Guardia; and from the Air Force, Brigadier General Xavier Julián Isaac; the Secretary General of the Army, Brigadier General Enrique Pando; Chief of Staff of the Ministry, Hector Mazzei; the Secretary of International Affairs for Defense, Francisco Cafiero; the Undersecretary of Operational Planning and Defense Logistics Service, Lucía Kersul; the Undersecretary of Administrative Coordination of the Ministry of Defense, Leonardo Garay; the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Carlos Liberman; the Chairman of the Board of Directors of TANDANOR, Miguel Tudino; the Coordinator of Health and Welfare of the Armed Forces, Marcela Ovejero; the General Coordinator of the National Commission on the Outer Limit of the Argentine Continental Shelf, Frida Armas Pfirter; and by the company Naval Group the head of Latin America, Olivier Michel, and the representative in Argentina, Adrien D ́Arbaumont.