Navantia advances construction of Spanish Navy’s underwater intervention maritime action vessel

May 13, 2026, by Fatima Bahtić

Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has carried out the lowering into dry dock of macrostructure 300 of the Spanish Navy’s maritime action vessel for underwater intervention (BAM-IS).

This step continues the construction strategy of the vessel, contracted by the Directorate General of Armament and Material (DGAM), which is being built for the Spanish Navy.

This macrostructure, composed of three blocks and weighing 597 tonnes, houses the Voith cycloidal propulsors, whose installation in dry dock is scheduled shortly, as well as the heavy-lift crane pedestal, the onboard hyperbaric chamber, and the working deck. The underwater intervention systems will be installed on this deck.

With this macrostructure now assembled in dry dock, only three additional blocks remain to complete the vessel and proceed to float-out. The Director of Business for Corvettes and Maritime Action Vessels, Alberto Cervantes, highlighted the program’s strong progress, noting that it is advancing according to plan thanks to the shipyard’s workforce and its industrial partners.

The new underwater intervention vessel, which will replace the salvage and rescue ship Neptuno, will serve as a specialised platform for submarine rescue support and will be the Spanish Navy’s primary unit for diving operations support.

The acquisition of the BAM-IS stems from a requirement linked to the S-80 submarine program, with the aim of providing support and ensuring crew safety from the earliest stages of operational deployment.

The BAM-IS will be capable of carrying a rescue mini-submarine and conducting underwater exploration and intervention operations using manned and remotely operated vehicles at depths of up to 3,000 metres. It will be prepared for:

Underwater intervention using mixed gases at great depths;
Subsea repair and recovery of submerged objects;
Search, location, detection, and identification of underwater targets;
Hyperbaric treatment of diving accidents;
Protection of submerged archaeological heritage;
Training of diving units, and support for instruction and certification at the Naval Diving School;
Mobility and counter-mobility operations (clearance and deployment of underwater obstacles, etc.);
Support for conventional naval operations.

The BAM-IS will be the first vessel of the Spanish Navy to receive MOSHIP certification, enabling it to act as a mothership for NATO submarine rescue and salvage systems, including the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) and the United States Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System.

To remind, the keel for the vessel was laid in November last year.