The S-81 submarine ‘Isaac Peral’ has touched the sea water for the first time this Friday and it is now at the armament dock of the Navantia shipyard in Cartagena, where it will begin the next phase of its development, the harbor trials.
To perform that maneuver, the submarine was placed last Wednesday in the floating dock. Throughout today, the necessary work has been carried out to place the submarine in the water in safe conditions and ready for the tests.
This Friday, the dock was moved to the trench, the part of the basin with the necessary draught to flood it, where she was submerged by flooding its ballast. Thenthe submarine touched water and startedto float on its own Meanwhile Navantia`s personnel and the crew performed various safety checks inside the vessel.
Afterwards and with the help of the pilots, the tugboats and pushers, the submarine was moved from inside the floating dock to the armament dock. At present, the submarine has no operational propulsion, that will occur when the moorings tests will be completed.
“The launching is a safety milestone in the construction of any submarine, and it is also a great success for Navantia, its professionals and for all those involved in this great project,” said the company’s Chairman, Ricardo Domínguez. “All together, the Navy, the Ministry of Defence, Navantia and its industry partners are making a qualitative leap in our strategic capabilities and our projection in the international market,” he added.
The management of Navantia as well asofCartagena`s shipyard, the Secretary of State for Defence, Esperanza Casteleiro, personnel from the Directorate General for Armaments and Material (DGAM) ,Navy officers, headed by the Chief Admiral of Logistics Support (AJAL), Admiral Aniceto Rosique Nieto and the Admiral of the Cartagena Arsenal (ALARCART), Vice Admiral Pedro Luis de la Puente García-Ganges, as well as the chairwoman t of the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), Belén Gualda attended the event
TheS-81 ‘Isaac Peral’ submarine was christened d by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias in a ceremony headed by His Majesty the King of Spain which took place at the Cartagena shipyard on April 22nd .
From now on, the harbour test will allow all the ship’s systems to be tested, with various safety milestones, such as the loading of diesel oil, battery charging and the propulsion test on moorings. Sea trials will begin in the first quarter of 2022 and a year later she will be delivery to the Spanish Navy.
