ROU 04 General Artigas is a 4,000 tonne vessel that was built in the 1960s and is currently the largest marine ship in the Uruguayan Navy, measuring 118 meters long by 14 wide and 4.30 meters deep. Its purpose is to supply Lüneburg class logistics and it was built in Germany for the US Navy in the 70s, when it was called FGS Freiburg.
According to the Presidency of Uruguay in November 2020, the operation of ROU 04 was stopped at the end of 2018 and, in 2019, operations to carry out an engine change began. The boat needed a remotorization, which caused them to be removed to be replaced with new parts. To that end, the measurements were taken which, at the time, seemed accurate, and they were sent to Germany for their preparation.
It was estimated that the placement of engines developed by a shipyard in Germany would bring the ship back into operation by mid-2021.
However, there was an error in sending the measurements and, when the engines arrived from Europe, they were not suitable for the boat. Minister Garcia was informed of the situation and assured at a press conference that he asked for reports explaining what happened to the commander of the Navy, Wilson Menéndez.
Along these lines, the minister said that the issue “has him very worried” and acknowledged that there was a mistake in taking the measures to order the engines from Germany, which were millimeters, within an original contract that cost 6 million dollars.
“Errors are measured in millimeters in these cases because they are technology errors, but a millimeter can make something that cost millions of dollars not work,” Garcia said.
The chief explained that the millions of dollars that were agreed as payment have not been completed yet because the situation has not been fixed, Montevideo Portal reported. He clarified that the money “has not been lost” yet.
“The original contract has not been paid out because it is not settled yet. The error was not in the pay, the error was in the difference in measurements. It has been invested and so far it has not paid off. There is a work plan that we hope will bear fruit,” he said.
For that reason, the Ministry of Defence withheld payments to the German company and is negotiating a solution. “Money has been invested in it for years and it has not navigated the way it has to sail,” said García when he acknowledged that ROU 04 has been under repair for a long time and that it has not produced the results they expected.
Currently, from the Defence portfolio they are waiting to see if the “projections” that Menéndez presented to Garcia are fulfilled. The minister explained that errors in the repair are not due to possible “irregularities”, according to the information that has already reached him. “Arrangements that were ordered to be made, ended up having no effect and the ship is still not sailing,” he concluded.
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