Argentine Federal magistrate Luis Rodríguez has ordered Supreme Court accountancy experts to prepare a report on the 2012/13 Antarctic campaign including two tenders and extraordinary expenses all of which involving an estimated 30 million pesos, approximately 4 million dollars.
Argentina has again contracted Russian polar vessel “Vasily Golovnin” for the supply of its Antarctica bases and stations this coming summer season. The 24.4 million dollars package also includes ice-breaker 'Dranitsyn' and two heavy load helicopters Kamov KA32 which will making most the hardest work in the extreme south outposts
Argentina’ icebreaker Almirante Irizar, docked for repairs since 2007 is en route to becoming another major scandal involving the Ministry of Defence and the Argentine Navy’s fleet. In the last six years Argentina has invested the equivalent of 200 million dollars in the recovery of the vessel that caught fire in 2007 and another 75 million dollars in contracting vessels to supply the Antarctic bases and stations.
Six years ago this week Argentina’s icebreaker ‘Almirante Irizar’ and symbol of the country’s presence in Antarctica caught fire and was an almost loss. The government pledged to have the vessel back sailing in a couple of years but now it has surfaced that only 50% of repairs have been completed and the whole enterprise is involved in deep controversy.
The Argentine navy is not going through one of its great moments, not only because of the impounded flagship ARA Libertad in Ghana and the ARA Espora stranded in South Africa waiting for spares. The rest of the fleet is suffering the consequences of years of lack of maintenance and training with corvettes, destroyers and even submarines involved in mechanical and conducting incidents.
The Russian icebreaker ‘Vasily Golovnin’ left Buenos Aires this week for Antarctica to deliver equipment, fuel, food and general cargo to Argentina’s Antarctic bases.
For the first time in twenty years, Argentina once again has the technological and technical capability to repair submarines, announced President Cristina Fernandez during a ceremony at the refurbished Naval Industrial Complex, CINAR, to celebrate the conclusion of repairs on a submarine and the recovery of an oceanographic research vessel.
The Argentine navy icebreaker “Almirante Irizar” which became an almost total loss in 2007 should be back fully refurbished and operational for the 2012/2013 Antarctic season following an investment of over 100 million US dollars reveals the Buenos Aires press.
Argentina in this 2010/11 campaign has been supplying Antarctic bases and stations with support from a Russian polar vessel equipped with an icebreaking bow and its own Navy units.