Equator buys the Condell and Lynch frigates of Chile.

[Gladius]

The decommissioned frigates Condell & Lynch has been bought by Equator to replace their own ageing frigates (Presidente Eloy Alfaro [Ex-HMS Penelope] & Moran Valverde [Ex-HMS Danae]).

Chile seals the contract of sale of two Leander class frigates to Equator.
March 8th, 2008.
EFE.

The governments of Chile and Equator signed today the contract of sale of two frigates of the Leander class to this last country, as reported the Chilean Navy in a communiqué.

The minister of Ecuadorian Defense, Wellington Sandoval, and the general director of the services of the Chilean Navy, the vice-admiral Cristián Gantes were the responsible for sealing the sale of the frigates 'Condell' and 'Lynch'.

To the act, celebrated aboard one of the ships in the naval base of Talcahuano, 530 kilometers to the south of Santiago, the Chilean minister of Defense José Goñi was present.

Besides, also they attended the ceremony the Undersecretary of Navy, Carolina Etcheverría; the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Navy, the admiral Rodolfo Codina, and the general commander of the Navy of Equator, the contraalmirante Livio Espinosa.

In the opportunity, the minister of Ecuadorian Defense, Wellington Sandoval, greeted the 120 members of the crew and technical personnel that form part of the 240 appointed by the Ecuadorian Navy to receive the frigates.

The delegation carried out also a traveling by the departments of the ships to observe the state of the works of restructuring executed by the Chilean Navy.

Besides the sale of the ships, Chile is in charge of the submarines modernization works belonging to the Ecuadorian Government, task that is carrying out the Chilean Navy.

'Is a normal operation. Chile has technology to upgrade submarines', argued recently in an interview with Efe the ambassador of Equator in Chile, Francisco Borgia.

The Ecuadorian ambassador denied besides that the acquisition of the frigates respond to an arms eagerness of its country, after the tensions generated with the Government of Colombia by the military incursion to a camp of the FARC in Ecuadorian territory, where died the 'number two' of the guerrilla warfare, 'Raúl Reyes'.

'Equator is not being reinforced, is replacing material', assured Borgia, that emphasized that Equator is a country 'pacifist'.

The president of Equator, Rafael Correa, that arrives at Chile next Sunday, anticipates also to visit the installations of Talcahuano to see the works of modernization of the frigates and of the submarines of that country.

Source (in Spanish).

Apparently by the info published by Spanish and South American Media, the deal would be valued around 24 million $US, and some of that will be paid by Equator with crude oil...

 

[harryriedl]

The decommissioned frigates Condell & Lynch has been bought by Equator to replace their own ageing frigates (Presidente Eloy Alfaro [Ex-HMS Penelope] & Moran Valverde [Ex-HMS Danae]).



Source (in Spanish).

Apparently by the info published by Spanish and South American Media, the deal would be valued around 24 million , and some of that will be paid by Equator with crude oil...

surprising as thought that these Leanders were pretty much at the end of there life and where heading to the scrap yard especially HMS Penelope as she had serious damage in 1991 .

 

[WillS]

surprising as thought that these Leanders were pretty much at the end of there life and where heading to the scrap yard especially HMS Penelope as she had serious damage in 1991 .

It never ceases to amaze me just how much life you can get out of these old ships. My Dad served on the Danae (it was his last ship in the RN) and as he's now in his mid-seventies, it gives you a good idea just how long these Leanders have been in continuous service.

Combination of good design, decent maintenance and the lack of any money to buy replacements I guess ;-)

WillS
www.boilingthefrog.co.uk

 

[Sea Toby]

I see this as just another example of poor decision making with many Latin American navies. The Leanders aren't much better than the new Irish Roisin or New Zealand Otago classes of OPVs. Unfortunately, these old frigates can be bought for around $10 million each, or there about, whereas the New Zealand new OPVs run around $50 million each in US dollars. If they were willing to build new ships they could develop their economies much better than throwing money to another country.

 

[Feña]

I disagree, the Leander frigates of Ecuador were in poor shape and their corvettes were covering the gap, thus acquiring the chilean Leander is for them a good deal because it was cheap, they has the crews trained and know the type ... besides the Lynch and Condell was recently upgrades by the chilean navy so it even introduce some new capabilityes in Ecuador ... besides this is only a transition solution for that country ... maybe now that the oil has a outrageous price they can have enough money to buy a modern frigate ...

Cheers!!

 

[Sea Toby]

I just don't see the Leanders as being operatioal in several years. When the Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan, and New Zealand have finally given up on the ghosts, Ecuador buys refurbished ones. You can buy a nice OPV for less than $100 million easily, and the ships would last 30-40 years. I think Ireland is thinking with better brains, buying very useful new patrol ships whereas many of the Latin nations are buying old very unuseful frigates.

I guess we'll have to disagree.