On Friday, September 6, Spain's state-owned Navantia Group announced the keel-laying ceremony for the deep-sea patrol vessel commissioned by the Royal Moroccan Navy. The event was attended by the Colonel Major of the Moroccan Navy, Mohammed Sallouh, and the President of Navantia, Ricardo Domínguez, according to a media outlet in Cadiz. This milestone marks the start of construction on the slipway, while fabrication of the next blocks will continue in the various workshops. The Moroccan patrol boat will have a length of 87 meters and a total beam of 13 meters, and will be able to accommodate 60 crew members on board. The project will involve over a million man-hours and around 1,100 direct and indirect jobs for the Cadiz shipyard and subcontractors over three years. The construction of this patrol vessel for Morocco also includes a technical-logistical support package (spare parts, tools, and technical documentation), and technical training for Royal Moroccan Navy personnel in Spain, adds the same source. Construction of the vessel began in July 2023. The contract benefited from the new dynamic in relations between Morocco and Spain, opened up by Pedro Sanchez's support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, adopted on March 14, 2022. In October 2023, the Moroccan government had given the green light to a 95 million euro loan signed on August 31, 2022, with Banco Santander S.A to finance the commercial contract signed between the National Defense Administration and Navantia S.A.
