In Montevideo, the construction contract with the Spanish Cardama shipyard for two OPVs has just been cancelled due to irregular payment demands, but not the urgent need. And the negotiations with the US Coast Guard for the provision of small guard boats of the rather outdated Reliance class (built in the 1960s) are currently not making any headway at all.

It is therefore very timely that London has announced its intention to decommission the three boats in the first batch of the River class from 2028. „HMS Tyne“, „HMS Mersey“ and „HMS Severn“ (80 metres, 1,700 tonnes) were built in the mid-2000s and have proven their worth from the Falklands to East Asia. In the second batch, this class received a helicopter platform (90 metres, 2,000 tonnes), which significantly improved its capabilities. This type of ship was then also sold to neighbouring Brazil as the Amazonas class. With a unit price of 20 million dollars, the financially strapped Uruguay received a platform that did not offer everything, but was far better than all other options.