The “urgent” procedure launched about a month ago by the Navarm office of the Ministry of Defense for the rental and subsequent purchase of a barge to be used in the service of Navy ships ended with a stalemate. Launched after the conclusion of a preliminary consultation, the tender closed only last week: “Once the deadlines have expired and no application for participation has been received, the procedure is declared deserted” the Ministry communicated in this regard.
The procedure – restricted and accelerated – had a value of 7.4 million euros and aimed to ensure the Navy, as early as next July 1st, the availability of a complete crew unit, on the basis of an “exclusive and continuous” lasting one year. At the end of this period, after a dry dock tour, the ownership of the ship should therefore have been transferred to Defence. The barge should then have had its headquarters in the naval base of La Spezia, and then possibly extended its range of action to that of Brindisi. At the moment it is not known which path the Ministry of Defense now intends to take to deal with the “various critical issues” caused by the “unavailability” of “fixed installations for the storage and distribution of air-naval fuels” in the two Ligurian and Apulian locations, in which according to what was explained at the start of the tender, it is currently “difficult to ensure the timely supply of fuel to the naval units of the Navy”.
FM
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