MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, March 29th 2024 - 15:50 UTC

 

 

Argentine destroyer damaged as she leaves for international exercise

Wednesday, July 5th 2017 - 08:11 UTC
Full article 9 comments
The ARA La Argentina incident happened when the destroyer was involved in normal operations to abandon the port. The ARA La Argentina incident happened when the destroyer was involved in normal operations to abandon the port.
The incident occurred last Friday and was confirmed this week by the Navy which said the vessel apparently suffered minor structural damage The incident occurred last Friday and was confirmed this week by the Navy which said the vessel apparently suffered minor structural damage

Destroyer “La Argentina” was damaged when it rammed its bow against a jetty at the Punta Alta naval base while attempting to make it to the high seas. She is scheduled to join an international naval exercise in the Pacific and bring several helicopters on her return trip from Peru.

 The destroyer, ARA D-11 La Argentina arrived to Buenos Aires in 1984 from Germany where she was built, belonging to a multipurpose MEKO class of destroyers. She was designed and built following a modules' blueprint which enables technological arms and systems' changes without affecting its operational capabilities. The MEKO class includes the MEKO 360, as the one incorporated by the Argentine navy, because of its 3.600 tons displacement.

The incident occurred last Friday and was confirmed this week by the Navy which said the vessel apparently suffered minor structural damage and there is an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

According to naval sources the incident happened when the destroyer was involved in normal operations to abandon the port. It's not clear whether it suffered a propulsion failure or a bad maneuver, was the cause of the accident and the damage to the bow.

Furthermore when attempts to repair the damage with a welding equipment, a fire broke out. However repairs were finally completed and the destroyer La Argentina was able to leave for the Pacific for the planned international naval exercise. Other navy sources said the vessel had really left to pick up several helicopters to be incorporated by the Navy.

Categories: Politics, Argentina.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules
  • Marti Llazo

    The ship demonstrated classic argentine self-destructive tendencies. In fact that class of ship is going to be renamed from “destructor” to “autodestructor.”

    Jul 05th, 2017 - 06:46 pm +4
  • Capt Rockhopper

    This is what happens when you don't invest in your military and enable sufficient training and maintenance activities to be undertaken. However all navies are subject to human error and maintenance failures and incidents do occur no matter how good they are. They are always high profile and embarrassing. The skipper will no doubt face a Board of Inquiry.

    Jul 05th, 2017 - 10:06 am +2
  • Stoker

    “Furthermore when attempts to repair the damage with a welding equipment, a fire broke out.”
    ;-D

    Jul 05th, 2017 - 12:23 pm +2
Read all comments

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!