Navantia delivers the second corvette built in the Bay of Cadiz to the Royal Navy of Saudi Arabia

Navantia has delivered to the Royal Saudi Navy the second of the five corvettes built in its shipyards in the Bay of Cadiz, the construction 547, named Al-Diriyah, in a ceremony held at the shipyard's facilities in San Fernando. The handover took place at the shipyard's dock and was attended by the shipyard's staff.

The delivery ceremony was attended by the Commander of the Royal Saudi Navy, Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily; the Secretary of State for Defence, María Amparo Valcarce; the President of Navantia, Ricardo Domínguez; the CEO of SAMI, Walid Abukhaled; the Director General of Armaments and Material (DIGAM), Admiral Aniceto Rosique and the Mayoress of San Fernando, Patricia Cavada.

Navantia has delivered the corvette Al-Diriyah to the Royal Saudi Navy three years after the cutting of its first plate (May 2019), meeting demanding deadlines despite the health pandemic and global supply tensions. It is one of the most competitive and capable vessels in its segment, as demonstrated in the sea trials conducted in the waters of the Bay of Cadiz.

During the event, which took place in accordance with military protocol, a joint inspection commission (made up of members of the Royal Saudi Navy and Navantia) boarded the corvette to carry out the mandatory inspection. At the end of the inspection, the ship's flag was raised, after which the Saudi Navy transferred command of the corvette to the commander of Al-Diriyah. The president of Navantia presented Vice Admiral Al-Ghofaily with the ship's bell as an institutional gift.

At the ceremony, the Secretary of State for Defence pointed out that this ship is an excellent example of the quality of the Spanish shipyards, of the industrial and commercial cooperation between our countries, which has guaranteed the economic activity of more than a hundred companies and 6,000 jobs in the Bay of Cadiz. "To the corvette Al-Diriyah, its officers and crew, peace, good sea and winds", said María Amparo Valcarce.

The president of Navantia, Ricardo Domínguez, thanked "the collaboration of all those involved in the great task carried out by the shipyard, delivering state-of-the-art products and services and thus showing the world the capabilities" of the company.

He congratulated the people working on the programme. "You are the main protagonists. As a result of your efforts, this second corvette built for the Saudi Navy will soon set sail. That is why today I am even more convinced that Navantia has a great future. It is a strategic company that contributes, with ships like this one, to improving the security and defence of the citizens of any country in the world. We will continue to be an engine of economic growth and employment, because our shipyards in the Bay of Cadiz will continue to drive the progress of the region and our digital transformation", he remarked.

Vice Admiral Al-Ghofaily, for his part, stressed that the delivery of the corvette "marks the last important milestones of its manufacturing life, which has lasted 38 months during which the best technologies have been dedicated to its construction and integration with cutting-edge combat systems".

"Alsarawat and many other ambitious RSNF acquisition programmes are a clear commitment by the Royal Saudi Naval Forces towards meeting the strategic objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, creating a new era of sophisticated and efficient naval capabilities to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, while increasing the strength of the national military industry."

He also stressed that, since last January, the ship has undergone intensive sea trials to be ready and fully capable of carrying out the missions assigned to it, an "important achievement that is a clear indication of Navantia's capabilities and its determination to achieve remarkable success in the Alsarawat project".

The RSNF commander thanked the president of Navantia and DIGAM for their commitment to the programme, in particular for the Navy's contribution to crew training.

SAMI's CEO stressed that "this is a moment of achievement and pride for the Saudi defence industry". "This would not have been possible without the support and guidance we continue to receive from the wise leadership of our beloved country. I would also like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces for their confidence in us. Our cooperation with Navantia resulted in the creation of our joint venture, SAMINavantia, which developed the first Saudi naval combat management system, HAZEM, thus contributing to the localisation of the defence sector through technology transfer and the nurturing of our exceptional Saudi talents," he said.

The director of Navantia's corvettes and maritime action ships business, José Antonio Rodríguez Poch, highlighted the value of both the construction of the ship and the training of the crews, and thanked the workforce, the auxiliary and support industry, the Navy and the classification societies for their contribution to the success of the programme: "Thank you for joining us in this programme and in future ones".

The corvette Al-Diriyah has a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and is capable of carrying a total of 102 crew and passengers. The contract for the construction of five corvettes came into force in November 2018 and, since the launch of the first unit (in July 2020), Navantia has launched the five units with a cadence of four months between each of them, which meant achieving this milestone in a record time of three years. Deliveries are taking place just over three years after each ship's first plate is cut.

The corvettes are based on the Avante 2200 design, adapted to Saudi Arabia's requirements, offering advanced performance, excellent seakeeping, high survivability and extreme temperature capability.

At the same time, around 500 crew members of these corvettes are completing the training process at the Navantia Training Centre (NTC) in San Fernando.

In addition to the corvettes contract, Navantia agreed with SAMI (Saudi Arabian Military Industries) the creation of a joint venture in Saudi Arabia, an alliance that allows Navantia to position its integrated systems and technologically advanced solutions in the Arab market and area of influence, and is aligned with the company's internationalisation strategy.

The contract involves a global workload of around seven million hours, 6,000 jobs over five years. Of these, more than 1,100 are direct employees, more than 1,800 collaborating industry employees (more than a hundred companies are involved) and more than 3,000 indirect employees generated by other suppliers.

The programme, whose last vessel is due for delivery in 2024, includes, in addition to construction, Life Cycle Support for five years from the delivery of the first vessel, with an option for a further five years.

It also includes the provision of various services, such as integrated logistics support, operational and maintenance training, provision of Training and Training Centres for the Combat System and Platform Control System of the ships, Life Cycle Support and systems for the maintenance of the ships at the Jeddah Naval Base.