Uruguay Plans to Buy a Single Offshore Patrol Vessel and Evaluates Offers from Colombia, France and South Korea

The government of Yamandú Orsi has entered the final stage of defining the purchase of a new offshore patrol vessel for the National Navy and expects to announce its decision between October and November, according to Caras y Caretas Uruguay.

According to that outlet, the presidential prosecretary, Jorge Díaz, said the Executive Branch is working on a “concrete action plan.” The official decision is to move ahead with a single platform and set aside the alternative of acquiring two or three units, options that had been considered at earlier stages.

The new definition came after the state decided to terminate the contract with the Spanish shipyard Francisco Cardama, signed during the administration of Luis Lacalle Pou to build two OPVs. According to Caras y Caretas Uruguay, the government voided that agreement after detecting contractual breaches and questions over the guarantees submitted by the company.

Díaz declined to go into detail about that case because it remains open in several proceedings. According to the Uruguayan outlet, there is a civil lawsuit, an international arbitration, criminal complaints filed by the state and also actions referred by the Parliamentary Investigative Commission to the Criminal Justice system.

In that context, Díaz said there is no doubt that one of the guarantees was false and stated that the other also failed to meet what was required under the contract. Any eventual responsibility of the individuals and companies involved will have to be determined by the courts, while the state maintains its claim to recover the funds delivered. In its response before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, Uruguay requested the return of €28,794,500 already paid to Cardama, in addition to other items linked to the damage caused by the collapse of the contract, always according to Caras y Caretas Uruguay.

At the same time, the Executive Branch decided to move ahead with a new purchase to address an operational need of the Navy. The intention is to complete the operation before the end of 2026 through a state-to-state mechanism, although that would not rule out the participation of a shipyard specialized in building the vessel.

The estimated cost of the future OPV is around US$100 million, although the final amount will depend on the ship’s characteristics, the equipment and the contracting terms. Among the options under review are proposals from Colombia, France and South Korea. According to Caras y Caretas Uruguay, Cotecmar is participating for Colombia with the OPV-93 design, Naval Group and the shipyard Kership are involved for France, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is presenting the HDP-2200 platform for South Korea.

Sources

• Caras y Caretas Uruguay

About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.