MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

British frigates offer to Chile.

Former Chilean Navy Commander and Senator for life Jorge Martinez Busch described the offer to Chile of three Royal Navy T 23 frigates as “very adequate from a technical point of view”.

The operation according to the Chilean press involves "HMS Grafton", "HMS Marlborough" and "Norfolk", with less than fourteen years in service and to be soon decommissioned by the Royal Navy.

"They are multifunctional vessels, which knowing British materials and the Royal Navy's designs, there's no doubt they are from a naval point of view one of the best offers done to Chile. I suggest an in depth consideration of the matter and highly recommend the acquisition", indicated retired Admiral Martinez Busch.

Apparently the three frigates package operation ranges 250 million US dollars.

Together with the frigate "Williams", the former HMS Sheffield, and the four new Dutch frigates, the first of which will be arriving late next year, Chile will eventually have a completely renewed surface fleet of eight units with an operational life horizon of twenty years.

However the former Navy Commander was cautious and insisted that the decision belongs to the Chilean Navy and Ministry of Defense because so far "the British offer has only been mentioned in the press".

Senator Sergio Fernandez, president of the Defense Committee added that the Navy and Ministry of Defense must collect all the information and background regarding the offer and consult with the House, "because the proposal was not on the table when we had a meeting with the procurement and modernization departments of the Navy last June".