ARA Petrel Designed and Built in Argentina

Jorge Taiana, Argentina’s Minister of Defence, presided over the launch of the ARA Petrel hydrographic vessel at the Tandanor shipyard on 10 November.

The vessel, designed and built entirely by Tandanor, is the result of close collaboration between the shipyard and Redimec, which dealt with engineering development, supply and installation of the integrated command bridge, communication and hydrographic systems. Of particular note was the design and manufacture of a set of marine consoles intended to compress as much functionality a possible into the available bridge space.

Tandanor’s vessel design complies with the Japanese NKK classification standards, rendering it suitable for hydro-oceanographic operations. Petrel will be part of the Argentine Navy’s auxiliary fleet, operated by the Naval Hydrographic Service as an important tool for technical experimentation and research. The collection of essential navigation information in the Rio de La Plata basin and along Argentina’s coastline will feature among the many operational missions the Navy has in mind.

A Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) vessel, Petrel will be equipped with multibeam, single beam and side-scan sonar to facilitate bottom mapping. This will add to the plethora of oceanographic data the vessel will routinely gather, including bottom profiles, marine currents, temperature and salinity.

The 12-strong crew will include at least five hydrographic/oceanographic specialists to conduct the scientific and technical tasks on board. The 205t, 30m vessel is powered by two 450hp Scania diesels coupled to two shafts and has a suite of environmental equipment offering mission endurance of at least 15 days. ARA Petrel replaces ARA Cormorán, which entered service in 1964. She is the second Argentine Navy vessel to bear the name: the first was a hydrographic survey vessel built at the Cadenazzi shipyard and commissioned in 1965.

Santiago Rivas in Buenos Aires for MON