However, and despite the fact that the price of the ships was the argument that the Ministry of Defence put on the table to abandon the negotiation with China —initiated, very opportunely, in full conversations by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as a political gesture—even after pressure from the Asian giant; the preference for numbers no longer seems to be so evident.
This is because the cost of acquiring new OPVs would not be that different from buying used ships — with the reduced useful life that their 42 years of operation entail. So, in terms of long-term spending, the logical choice would have been, initially, to accept the offer from the Chinese state-owned shipyard. CSTC (China Shipbuilding Trading Company)the only one that met 100% of the technical requirements, for 164 million dollars in five years.
The political reasons behind the economic ones
However, the call from USA may have had much more to do with the preference for Norwegian vessels — coming from a country that, not coincidentally, is a member of the NATO- than the high offers of other companies.
It is enough to consider the improved proposals of Damn, the Dutch company, and Kership, the French, which also participated in the tender.
In this sense, Damen, lowering the combat power, tried to offer two ships of the 1,800 series (2,200 tons) for less than 116 million. A figure that, on the other hand, is similar to the one that the French firm ocean would have approached for two OPV 270s if it had not been prevented from bidding due to technical issues.
Likewise, Kership would have presented a similar offer in a final price call, something that never happened on the part of the government.
For this reason, the perception is that, more than an economic issue, the novel around ocean patrol ships has a strong political component, marked by the distance from China, the rapprochement with the administration of Joe Biden —with a purchase that “would open the doors of NATO”— and for an agreement that, if signed quickly, would coincide with the delivery of the OPVs in full election campaignopening the possibility of capitalizing on the initiative in partisan terms.
Source: Ambito
