An Argentine patrol ship has been damaged after colliding with a tanker in strong winds near Puerto Belgrano Naval Base in Argentina.

ARA Espora is the lead ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. Commissioned in 1985, she is used for fishery patrol. She is home ported at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and is part of the Navy’s 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships.

Photos posted by the website Elrosalenio.com show significant damage to the port side of the patrol boat.

In August 2015, the Argentine air force retired its Mirage fighters, with only a handful of them even flyable.

The problems don’t stop there, their submarine crews despite benefiting from a recent upgrade, need at least 190 days of immersion practice and in 2014 only spent 19 hours submerged. A similar situation is faced by their four destroyers, they don’t have any weaponry.

Argentine ground forces rarely have the resources for training and are vastly under equipped, their kit dates back to the 70’s and is in very short supply. In addition to this, the Argentine Air Force largely consists of a collection of obsolete aircraft mostly dating back to the 1970’s, which are frequently grounded due to poor serviceability. They’re now even getting rid of their only semi-capable fighter aircraft.

According to IHS Janes

“The Argentine Air Force is drastically cutting staff working hours and decommissioning its last fighter aircraft amid continuing budget issues.

A recently published daily agenda indicates that the service’s working hours have been significantly reduced, from 0800 to 1300; rationing of food, energy consumption, and office supplies has been directed headquarters staff and property residents; and only the minimum personnel required to staff headquarters, directorates, and commands are working.

These orders, issued on 11 August, take effect 18 August. A next step will cut Monday and Tuesday as working days. Moreover, air force officials said any aircraft taken out of service will not undergo maintenance for now.”

This leaves the Argentine military with just two types of jet aircraft A-4’s and IA-63’s and both are subsonic, decades old and barely serviceable. Argentina had looked into buying new Gripen’s from Sweden via Brazil but this was vetoed by the United Kingdom which makes a large number of internal components for the aircraft. They had also looked at JF-17’s from China, but the JF-17s proved too expensive to modify.

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George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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Michael Karl Dawes
7 years ago

Amateurs . The Royal Navy has a far more impressive record of sailing around and colliding into things. Try harder.

Graham Mann
7 years ago

Yep like in the Cod War

Mike Abo Hooper
7 years ago

Looks like its caused thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

Jason Justin Mcnamara
7 years ago

Love it LOL LOL

Stephen Brown
7 years ago

PMSL 😀

Francis Xavier Sowerby Thomas

‘Tis but a scratch

Yunell Smith Apolona
7 years ago

whaaaaat!!

Kenneth Burns
7 years ago

Yeah, we’ve had ferries batter our frigates. Shit happens, refit at sea with PVA glue, newspaper and airfix paint

Steven
7 years ago

Tee hee! 🙂

Damian Ross
7 years ago

I’d suggest they rename their destroyers, if they have no weaponry they won’t be living upto their name ?

Ross Tackle Berrey
7 years ago

whoops, what a waste of what could be a good class of warship

Hennie Van Den Berg
7 years ago

In Africa we would just body putty that

Dave Crook
7 years ago

A bit of T Cut will sort that out

Bob Hodgson
7 years ago

Type 45, oops sorry, a bump, never mind.

Mac
Mac
7 years ago

Oh Dear, what a shame, never mind.

Stuart Hayden
7 years ago

Oh the irony

Stuart Hayden
7 years ago

Oh the irony

Roger Morris
7 years ago

“Well Sir, this tanker just leaped out and bit my ship”…

Aayush Ranjan
7 years ago

they are not gonna repair it just because….. Messi won’t pay tax

Roger Widdecombe
7 years ago

Oh dear, how sad, never mind LoL! 🙂

Joshua Rolph
7 years ago

Dan Rolph

Cliff Sweeting
Cliff Sweeting
7 years ago

There’s a lot of rust under all that paint. Does the rest of Argentina’s Navy aspire to such high standards of maintenance?

Cheers,
Cliff

Paul Kimber
7 years ago

Adem Veli

Adem Veli
7 years ago
Reply to  Paul Kimber

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer navy

Harry Eaton
7 years ago
John Cook
7 years ago

Nice place to put a new port hole

Ian Allen
7 years ago

If they have use 2% of their budget to stay in NATO that damage is really gonna cause them problems lol 😀

Paul Jones
7 years ago
Reply to  Ian Allen

They’re not in NATO. .

Andrew 'Taz' Tarrant
7 years ago

Awww shame ?

Niall Annan
7 years ago

Do they still have ‘warships’?!? 😛

Lewis Dellar-Singer
7 years ago

Go hard or go home!

Lewis Dellar-Singer
7 years ago

Whoops!

David Jones
7 years ago

Janet Read

Janet Read
7 years ago
Reply to  David Jones

Hahahahahahaha fucking hahaha

Graham Mann
7 years ago

No that’s one of Putins new missiles

Peter Oxford
7 years ago

Should of sunk lol

Brendan Clarke
7 years ago

They will just put a plaster over it and carry on ?

CJH
CJH
7 years ago

That’s his no claims discount down the Swannee then….