Navantia Launches “Hail”, The Third Corvette For The Saudi Arabian Navy

The vessel, named “Hail”, set sail at 4.15 p.m. on Sunday, the ideal time depending on the tides and wind.

GHENOVA has participated in the development of the F-110 corvettes “Al Jubail”, “Al-Diriyah” and “Hail”.

This Sunday, Navantia launched the third of the five corvettes it is building at the Bahía de Cádiz shipyard for the Royal Saudi Arabian Navy (RSNF), which bears the name HAIL, in homage to this city in the north of the country.

The launching took place at 16.15 hours, the ideal time depending on the tides and wind. The weather forecast for the next few days, which predicts strong winds in the Bay, has made it advisable to cancel the ceremony that was scheduled for Tuesday, 30 March.

Instead, the launching has taken place as a working act in the shipyard. It was attended by Navantia’s Director of Operations and Business, Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero, the director of the shipyard in Bahía de Cádiz, José Antonio Rodríguez Poch, and Captain Abdullah Alsheri, liaison officer of the Avante 2200 Programme, representing Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, commander of the Royal Navy of Saudi Arabia.

The corvette slid down the slipway until it touched the water and its construction will continue in this environment until its delivery, scheduled for December 2022. The Spanish and Saudi Arabian anthems were played during the launch.

The HAIL corvette is the third of the five corvettes in the Avante 2200 programme. It has a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and will be capable of carrying a total of 102 crew and passengers. It will reach a maximum speed of 27 knots and, among other aspects, has the capacity to carry 21 days’ provisions on board.

The contract, whose last vessel is to be delivered in 2024, includes, in addition to the 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 supply of various services, such as integrated logistic support, operational and maintenance training, supply 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.

At GHENOVA we are proud to be able to work on large-scale projects such as this one.