Coinciding with the year's liveliest high tide, the 'Juan Carlos I' was launched March 10, 2008, at 6:09 p.m., from Navantia's Ferrol shipyard.
At the ceremony, Her Majesty the Queen of Spain sponsored the launching of this vessel, that will become the biggest in the history of the Spanish Navy next December, when commissioning will take place. H.M. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía, accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Asturias, arrived at the shipyard a few minutes prior to the ceremony. They were greeted at the slipway by Emilio Pérez Touriño, president of the Autonomous Region of Galicia; José Antonio Alonso, Ministry of Defense; Enrique Martínez Robles, chairman of the State Company for Industrial Participations (SEPI in Spanish), Navantia´s chairman, Juan Pedro Gómez Jaén, and the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Navy, Admiral Sebastián Zaragoza. Hundreds of guests invited to the historical event had packed the stands over the last half hour. Featured among the many authorities were the ambassador of Australia, Noel Campbell, representatives of the navies and nations with which Navantia sustains special relationship as Norway and South Africa, and executives of more than 100 subcontractors of the Program. It is 230-metre in length and weighs 18,000 tonnes. The historical event came to a conclusion with the King and Queen's inauguration of the new Shipbuilding Museum, located at the former dockyard nearby.
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment