rience in military and commercial
ship construction and repair.
Fincantieri is anticipating a $100
million investment in construction
and technical improvements to
Manitowoc Marine Group in the
coming years that will increase both
efficiency and productivity.
Italian Navy Orders
Two More Submarines
The Italian Navy Directorate General for Naval Armament has
ordered the second batch of two
Type 212A submarines from Fincantieri. With the construction
contract in place, work on the first
unit will begin in 2010 at Fincantieri’s Muggiano yard and the
second in 2011.
Both units will be commissioned
into the Italian Navy in 2015 and
2016, respectively.
The two units were part of a
$1.45 billion contract that called
for construction of the first two
units of Batch I and options for two
additional units of Batch II. The
Batch I units were commissioned
in June 2005 and May 2006,
respectively.
The two new units will include
technology upgrades in the
command-and-control systems in
order to mitigate obsolescence
issues. The costs of the two latest
submarines will be spread over the
2008-2016 time frame, with the
final payment occurring when the
last unit is delivered.
Mexico Orders Six
Motor Life Boats
Textron Marine & Land Systems
has received a $24 million direct
commercial sale contract to build
six 47-foot motor life boats for the
Mexican Navy.
The boats are aluminum hulled,
self-righting rescue boats capable of
operating in extreme wave and surf
conditions. Powered by two Cater-
pillar diesel engines, they will self-right in less than 10 seconds with
all machinery remaining fully operational throughout the process.
It is anticipated that the first
motor life boat will be delivered in
February 2010, with the remaining
five units delivering in two-month
increments following unit one. All
units will be delivered by December 2010.
The Mexican Navy has had
requirements for increasing the
number of patrol craft for the past
few years but limited budgets have
precluded acquisitions. It is in the
process of building an agency similar to the U.S. Coast Guard that
will specialize in search-and-rescue
and responses to calls for assistance in coastal waters. ■
AMI International Inc., Bremerton, Wash.,
is an international consulting and naval
intelligence services company located on
the Web at www.amiinter.com.
