Minimalism in the Mediterranean
EU NAVFOR MED Operational Commander Addresses Shortcomings of EU and NATO in the Mediterranean
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Established – Independent – Trusted – Since 1956
Established – Independent – Trusted – Since 1956
EU NAVFOR MED Operational Commander Addresses Shortcomings of EU and NATO in the Mediterranean
Order also includes upgrade of existing systems
Rear-Admiral Silvio Alva, Executive Director of Servicios Industriales de la Marina S.A. (SIMA-PERÚ S.A.), the industrial concern that supports the Peruvian Navy with shipbuilding, maintenance and repairing services, has a very positive opinion about Exponaval. “It is the most important naval and maritime exhibition in the Latin American region,” he told Mönch. Backing Rear-Admiral Alva words, SIMA was at the show exhibiting the always increasing range of ships that are being built at its shipyards, as well as other services it is providing, both for the Peruvian Navy and for foreign and civilian-commercial customers.
Admiral Alva explained that, “the Peruvian Navy has ordered a number of ships to be built at our shipyards. We have completed a new training ship, which is a tall, sail ship. We are also building a series of 500t patrol boats, with three of them already delivered and the fourth undergoing sea tests, and we are working in the first of two multipurpose transport ships, which will be launched to the water in 2017.”
The training ship is the BAP BEV-161 UNION, which started in 2012 and was completed in 2015 at the facilities of SIMA in El Callao, using a design provided by CYPSA with technical assistance of NAVANTIA. The multipurpose transport ship is being built with a design derivated from the MACASSAR-class LPD, originally designed by DAEWOO at South Korea for Indonesia, which was adjusted to the particular requirements of Peru. The result will be a 7,294t, 122m long vessel built with high resistance steel and that will have a speed of 16,5 knots.
The patrol boats are the PGCP-50, 465t and 55,3m long vessels with hulls built on high resistance steel and superstructures built on aluminium, fitted with diesel engines. Its design was provided by the South Korean shipyard STX OFFSHORE & SHIPBUILDING.
The Executive Director of SIMA also pointed out that the firm is working on the modernisation of the four Type 209/1200 submarines of Peruvian Navy, “for what we are working with the German shipbuilder thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.”
Admiral Alva also underlined that SIMA also does a lot of maintenance and repairing work on civilian and commercial vessels. “We repair between 150 and 180 fishing ships every year in our facilities of Callao and Chimbote, and more than half of those ships are foreign, including vessels from China, Japan, Korea, and Spain.”
On the side of exports and business, he explained that, “SIMA has built a series of 15 tons patrol boats, which have attracted the interest of navies and maritime security services in Central America and the Caribbean.”
He proudly mentioned that, “SIMA is also an important actor in the activities of the metal mechanic sector in Peru, where our firm has built 80% of the big mechanical bridges in the country, including the biggest, a bridge 356m long.”
Asked about future projects, Rear-Admiral Silvio Alva told Mönch that, “we are studying and exploring other market niches in relation to the expansion of the Panama Channel. We are also talking with South Korean shipyards, including Daewoo and Hyundai, about the possibility to have a partnership between those firms and SIMA, to offer maintenance and repair services in this side of the Pacific Ocean for the big merchant ships that they build. We are also eyeing to give maintenance and repair service to the big ships that serve the mining industry. We see an important potential for the expansion of SIMA’s activities.”
