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SPS Ysabel (A-06) Ro-Ro (L´Audace, [AK])
Buque Logístico de Transporte (BTL)

For the Army, agile and all weather ships withcapacity for transport loads, especially wheeled vehicles, is one of the priorities to be able to support operations assigned by the General Staff of the Defensa (EMAD). The program of the Logistics Vessel of Transport (BTL Buque Logístico de Transporte) was officially launchedat the end of January 2020, once the General Directorateof Armament and Material(DGAM) had in its possession State Requirements Major (REM) validatedby the Chief. The BTL that was sought was principally vessels strictly designed under civil standards, with less complete on-board systems and endowed only with weapons for self defense. The REM contemplated the need for the possibility of having a trans-logistics freight, compatible with ecological criteria and sustainability from the environmental point of view.

Since the service casualties of the ships El Camino Español (A-05) and Martín Posadillo (A-04) in 2019 and 2020 respectively, the Army found itself without logistics ships to transport its troops and equipment. The commissioning of the Ysabel (A-06) in June 2021 partially covered the needs of the Army. It had twice the capacity of the two ships it replaces together. The new ship is capable of displacing up to 16,361 tons at full load, compared to just 6,860 for the two ships it replaces - more than double.

The Armada still has a problem. Previously, it had two veteran and less capable ships that could do two missions simultaneously at different sites. Now, it has a ship with great performance, but obviously cannot be on two missions at the same time. That is, in the end it has less flexibility. For this reason, the Army is interested in the purchase of a second unit, in this case of new construction. In the act of handing over the ship to the Navy, (responsible for its operation, even though it is in ground service), the head of the Army Logistics Support Command (MALE), Lieutenant General Fernando Miguel García y García de las Hijas , acknowledged that another vessel is necessary and added that this second unit "would be a newly built vessel." In any case, he made it clear that the project ultimately depends on "priorities and financial availability ."

In comparative terms, it is longer than an F-100 frigate, as long as a football field and a half, and if it stood up, it would be taller than the mythical Torre de Madrid in the capital, the Torre Glòries in Barcelona or even the Neguri Gane in Benidorm. But the lack of budget of the Ministry of Defense prevented both the comprehensive reform of this old Suardiaz ro-ro for its complete adaptation to the demands of the armed forces such as the construction of a new ship in any of the Navantia shipyards.

Launched in the Vigo shipyards of Barreras in 2003 and delivered to Suardiaz in 2004, the Galicia was a Ro-Ro ship designed and built for the transport of cargo such as cars, trucks or trains, that access the ship by their own means, as opposed to Lo-Lo (Lift-on / Lift-off) vessels that use cranes to carry out loading. The vehicles usually load through large gates at the stern, or in some cases at the stern and bow to facilitate rapid loading and unloading of the vessel. The ship transported vehicles from the Citröen dealer to the motorway of the sea that connects the port of Vigo with the French city of Saint-Nazaire until 2017, which changed its destination to Tangier, traveling during all these years more than 110,000 nautical miles.

The lack of budget of the Ministry of Defense for the construction of a new ship led in August 2020 to the urgent opening of a process for the purchase of a second-hand civilian ship, resulting at the end of 2020 with the acquisition for 7.5 million euros from Galicia to Suardiaz by the General Directorate of Armament and Material (DGAM). The lack of budget prevented the integral reform of the ship that was originally contemplated, summarizing all its adaptation in the repainting of its hull to the naval gray used by the Spanish Navy and the removal of a mobile vehicle transport cover, as well as the transformation of the interior ramps that connect the different decks to adapt them to the military vehicles that will be transported, work carried out at the Metalships & Docks shipyard in Vigo.

Renamed Ysabel in honor of Queen Isabel I of Castile, the new A-06 will be operated by the Spanish Navy and placed at the service of the Army, owner of the ship, like its two predecessors El Camino Español (A-05 ) and the Martín Posadillo (A-04). With dimensions of 149 meters [489 feet] in length by 21 meters in beam, a 27-meter depth and a draft of 5.2, the Ysabel is powered by two 8,395 kW diesel engines, the ship can travel at a maximum speed of 17 knots with a range of 24 days. The Ysabel is manned by 51 people, of which seven are officers, nine non-commissioned officers and 35 sailors, and is based at the Cartagena Arsenal.

During the works, one of its seven cargo decks was removed to adapt it to military vehicles. The vessel will be able to transport 5,000 linear meters of light vehicles on its six decks and also offers a configuration to transport up to 1,300 meters of heavy vehicles combined with 2,000 meters of light vehicles. The maximum capacity is 1,200 vehicles. The vessel has a load capacity of 4,225 tons, being able to transport up to 1,117 in its six ro-ro decks vehicles or 110 trailers between 32 and 54 tons in weight.

The works include the installation of specific military communications and the installation of self - defense systems , the adoption of storage rooms for ammunition and light weapons, and renovations to their habitability. The ship will also be equipped with the means to carry out vertical refueling and vertical delivery operations on board (Vertrep / Vod) with helicopters.

The ship will carry out, for example, the transfer of the resources of the units of Ceuta and Melilla that participate from time to time in military exercises in the Peninsula and will carry out missions to send material to the archipelagos. It will also support missions abroad such as the Spanish contingents in Turkey or Lebanon and will transport Army material to international exercises of which it is a part.