The Spanish government has revealed the construction developments of Avante 1800 combatant ship, which is under construction, for Morocco, in the hand of the state-owned shipbuilding company of Navantia in Cadiz.
In a response to a question about the patrol boat deal between Morocco and Spain put by Vox party, the government said that "in accordance with its contractual obligations, Navantia is in the full development of the functional engineering of the design and has begun the process of acquisition of the main equipment of the ship."
The government’s response affirmed that the construction is advancing at full capacity, and it ended the controversy towards this case after several media reports claimed that the project has not resumed work since the diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid last year.
Spain announced at the beginning of 2021 the sign of a deal with Morocco to build a patrol ship for Morocco’s Royal Navy, with a financial value of 150 million euros, pointing out that the construction would take 3 years and a half.
However, in April 2021, Morocco and Spain passed through a tense crisis due to the issue of the Sahara, after Spain secretly received the Polisario Front leader, Brahim Ghali for medical treatment, the move that angered Rabat and pushed it to cut diplomatic ties with Madrid.
The crisis lasted almost a year before it ended in March 2022 due to the Spanish new attitude that support Morocco's autonomy initiative to end the Sahara conflict, and during the crisis, several Spanish media reports talked about Morocco’s freezing of the boat deal with Navantia.
