Argentina’s Defense Ministry has opened bidding for a military pier at the long-stalled naval base in Ushuaia, with an official budget of 189,321 million pesos (about US$123 million), and for warehouses and related works budgeted at 7,638 million pesos. Defense Minister Carlos Presti signed both orders, published in the Boletín Oficial, the official gazette.
The pier order, Resolution 704, was signed on October 7 and published on October 9. The pier would run 585 meters, with a first stretch of 240 meters for the Navy’s patrol boats, which now moor at a pier in downtown Ushuaia. Construction is set for three years.
The warehouse order, Resolution 733, appeared on October 20. It covers modular warehouses and complementary works, with 548 days to build. The Navy’s contracting unit will run both tenders on the government’s online procurement platform.
The base has been slow to rise. It was announced in 2022 under then-President Alberto Fernández, and the last official progress figure, from a Cabinet Office report, was 9.13% of the physical work, which that report said consisted of leveled ground and a concrete slab for the first warehouse.
President Milei called the base the future logistics hub of the South Atlantic in a national address on September 3, and the government has since said it has the money to start. Infobae puts the full project at about US$500 million, with completion in 2029. The first stretch of pier is planned for early 2027.
The spending orders say the Navy has funds this year, but payments for 2027 to 2029 are still being added to the 2027 budget bill, which Congress has to pass.