Uruguayan experts point to Chinese patrol boats as the best option for the Navy

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After a little more than a month of analysis, the various advisory commissions appointed by the Government of Uruguay to evaluate the three bids submitted for the provision of two ocean-going patrol vessels for the Navy have indicated that the proposal of the Chinese company CSTC is the most suitable for the country since it meets all the requirements requested.

This decision is the culmination of a search that began almost eight years ago, with multiple calls and competitions and for which the new government opted to make a direct purchase by exception, making an open call to all shipyards that wanted to present themselves and providing a list of requirements that would be weighed by several commissions, including a technical commission of the Navy, a financial commission and a follow-up commission.

After receiving bids was concluded, only three shipyards complied with the presentation of their proposals, the French Kership, the Dutch Damen, and the Chinese China Shipbuilding Trading Co. (CSTC).

Damen, as expected, presented a version of the OPV 1800 similar to the Malaysian Tun Fatimah class, while it was initially assumed that the French and Chinese shipyards would repeat the offers made in the previous processes, with the OPV 90 and the P18N, respectively, but this was not what finally happened.

In the case of Kership, a different option was presented to the one acquired by Argentina in 2018 under a contract of 319 million euros for four units, including three new and one second-hand launched in 2011, which would undoubtedly put the original French model well above the budget managed by Uruguay. The unit offered, of lower performance than the OPV 90, would not comply with many of the technical requirements requested in the bidding documents beyond being the cheapest financial proposal of the three.

THE BEST OFFER, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS

Concerning China, instead of going for the P18N of 1,700 tons displacement and 95 meters in length, this time it was decided to take as a basis a larger vessel, with dimensions closer to those of a frigate, with more than 100 meters in length, 2,250 tons displacement and 8,500 nautical miles of autonomy.

The acquisition cost is US$140 million for the two ships with their armament, ammunition, and ready to sail from China. To this must be added the cost of the integrated logistic support for which the Navy is asking for at least five years, at the cost of US$6 million per ship, which would bring the total investment to US$152 million for both ships. China also offers to maintain and upgrade the ships’ software for 20 years at no additional cost.

Optionally, the extension of the integrated logistic support is offered for another ten years, at a total cost of US$38 million for both ships, as well as the installation of western communication and data link systems provided by Thales instead of Chinese as in the base offer, for another US$9.5 million.

If the latter option – the 15-year integrated logistics support and Thales systems – were chosen, this would bring the Chinese bid to a maximum of US$199.5 million and still fall short of Damen’s proposal, which stands at US$225 million and would not include the option to extend the logistics support beyond five years. Comparing the bids with the same logistics support time (five years), software maintenance for 20 years, and western communications equipment, the Chinese bid comes in at US$161.5 million versus US$225 million for the Dutch shipyard.

The selection process was approved by all the members of the advisory commissions, both in the technical part and in the financial advice and follow-up commission. From now on, the process passes to the government to decide politically on the next steps to be taken.

With information from InfoDefensa

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