The Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Carlos Liberman, and the Buenos Aires Minister of Agrarian Development, Javier Rodríguez, participated in Mar del Plata in the baptism and launching of the Huafeng 828 fishing vessel, a new vessel built by the Federico Contessi Naval Shipyard and Cía SA ., the local firm’s fifth in the last eleven months.
The Huafeng 828 is a tall ship entirely developed by Argentine engineers, most of them workers received from the National Technological University (UTN) of Mar del Plata.
During the ceremony, held the day before in the port of Mar del Plata, Liberman stressed that in 2021 “we will export 2,000 million dollars as a result of the work and commitment of businessmen, chambers, workers and sailors”.
For its part, the president of the shipyard, Domingo Contessi, celebrated the “incipient reactivation of the Argentine naval industry” that it is “the product of policies that we must thank, sustain and deepen”.
As well He pondered, among other measures of the national government, “the reduction of tariffs for fish products with greater added value, managed by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.”
During the ceremony it was specified that more than 70% of the inputs used in the construction of the boat are from national industry, materials that, thanks to advances in technology, make it possible to create a more durable, economical and versatile vessel.
In another part of her speech, Contessi pointed out that “the brake on the importation of used ships is bearing concrete results” and warned that “the pressures of short-term shipowners do not cease. Therefore, the renewal of the fishing fleet is a process that will take decades and therefore must also be maintained over time.”
In his turn, the Buenos Aires Minister of Agrarian Development also underlined the “time of reactivation of the naval industry” and considered that it is due to the “articulation of the private and public sectors with a very clear decision: to promote national production and work.”
Also present at the event were the national director of Fishing Coordination and Supervision, Julián Suárez; the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Buenos Aires, Carla Seain; the Secretary of Productive Development of General Pueyrredón, Adrián Consoli; the Chief of Staff of the Atlantic Naval Area, Hernán Montero, among others.
