{"id":59590,"date":"2025-05-14T22:15:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T20:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=59590"},"modified":"2026-05-14T00:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T22:08:00","slug":"the-abnormal-cost-overrun-of-the-new-supply-ship-of-the-spanish-navy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/05\/14\/the-abnormal-cost-overrun-of-the-new-supply-ship-of-the-spanish-navy\/","title":{"rendered":"The abnormal cost overrun of the new supply ship of the Spanish Navy"},"content":{"rendered":"

It's always cause for celebration when the Spanish Navy acquires new ships, but not at any price, and that's not the best way to say it.<\/p>\n

The greetings left by other ships in the BAC 'Pati\u00f1o' A-14 of the Spanish Navy<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe Spanish invention that the 'Pati\u00f1o' carries and that you will not see on ships of other navies<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Yesterday, the Ministry of Finance announced<\/a> that it has authorized the modification of the spending limits to finance \"a new program to modernize Army supply ships\"<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
The combat supply ship \"Pati\u00f1o\" A-14 at the Spanish Navy's naval parade held on June 2, 2017 in the Pontevedra Estuary to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Royal Company of Midshipmen (Photo: Elentir<\/a>).<\/div>\n

In fact, reading the text of the statement, it's clear that this is a ship for the Navy, not the Army<\/strong>. The government's inability to distinguish between the two branches of the Armed Forces is surprising, but there's something even more surprising<\/strong>. The text states:<\/p>\n

Currently, the Navy has two Supply Ships<\/strong>, the A-14 \u2018Pati\u00f1o\u2019, delivered in 1995, and the A-15 \u2018Cantabria\u2019, delivered in 2010. The \u2018Pati\u00f1o\u2019, with 30 years of service, is in its last third of life.<\/strong> Therefore, the main objective of the program is the replacement of this ship with a new BAC that incorporates the latest advances in ships with similar characteristics<\/strong> and more up-to-date systems.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
The combat supply ship \"Cantabria\" A-15 (Photo: Armada Espa\u00f1ola<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Further down, the Ministry of Finance's statement states: \"The total budget for the program amounts to 703 million euros.\"<\/p>\n

That figure has caused astonishment, and not without reason. On January 24, 2024<\/strong>, during a visit to Ferrol, Pedro S\u00e1nchez announced the construction of a new combat supply ship for 439 million euros<\/a>. Here you can hear the Prime Minister's statement indicating that figure in a video published by Europa Press (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):<\/p>\n