Astarsa
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![]() Aerial view of the factory (1967) | |
Company type | S.A. |
---|---|
Industry | Civil Engineering Transport |
Founded | 1927 |
Defunct | 1994 |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Locomotives Ships |
Number of employees | 1,500 (1972) |
Astilleros Argentinos Río de La Plata S.A.(mostly known for its acronymASTARSA,which can be roughly translated asArgentine Shipyards of Río de la Plata) was anArgentineshipyard.Its core business was building and repairing ships and locomotives. It also manufactured pipes, industrial machinery, and tractors. It went out of business in 1994.
History
[edit]In the 1920s theSociedad Colectiva Hansen y Puccini,predecessor of Astarsa, was founded. The first ship over 1000 tons launched in Argentina was built by Astarsa forYacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales(YPF).[1]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Seaver_y_Robinson_en_Astarsa.jpg/220px-Seaver_y_Robinson_en_Astarsa.jpg)
The shipyard was located in the city ofTigre,north ofGreater Buenos Aires,on theLuján River.It had a peak of 1,500 naval and metallurgic workers.
Although Astarsa's main line of business was shipbuilding, the company also acted as sub-contractor for several railway manufacturers, producing and repairingdiesel locomotivesforEMD,WerkspoorandAlsthom,in addition to doing major repairs to diesel andsteam locomotivesfor state-owned railway companyFerrocarriles Argentinos.Between 1976 and 1991 Astarsa manufactured 267 locomotives underGeneral Motorslicense for the Argentine market, also exporting models toSouth AfricaandSaudi Arabia.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Astarsa81.jpg/220px-Astarsa81.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/ASTARSA_2008.jpg/220px-ASTARSA_2008.jpg)
In the early 1970s, Astarsa producedindustrial machineryunder licence from theAmericancompanyCaterpillar.[2][3]During the 1970s, Astarsa workers spoke out against frequent accidents in the factory which had caused several deaths, and ended up going on strike in 1973.[4]On 24 March 1976, when themilitary dictatorshipheaded byJorge Videlaoverthrew the government ofIsabel Perón,theArgentine Armytook the Astarsa factory and other shipyards in the area, kidnapping 60 workers, 16 of whom are stillmissing.[5]
The decreasing activity of the Argentinemerchant navysince the 1980s and the privatisation process started in the 1990s were some of the causes that led Astarsa to close down. In 1994 the company ceased operations, abandoning locomotives (new and under repair) within its shop. By 1997, the company declared bankruptcy and the factory was in the process of being sold by 2000.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- "Complicidad patronal-militar en la última dictadura argentina: Los casos de Acindar, Astarsa, Dálmine Siderca, Ford, Ledesma y Mercedes Benz" by Verónica Basualdo, article published inEngranajesmagazine n° 5, March 2006
- La industria naval en la Argentina. Buenos Aires: Ministerio de IndustriaCentro de Estudios para la Producción (2005)
- La industria naval en la Argentinaby Aurelio González Climent - Buenos Aires: Universidad de Buenos Aires, pp. 68–72 (1956)
- "Pensar los setenta desde los trabajadores" by Federico Lorenz -Políticas de la memoria,pag. 19-23 (2004)
- "Los trabajadores navales de Tigre. La militancia sindical en un contexto de enfrentamiento militar".Lucha Armada en la Argentina n° 2, pag. 72-87 (2005)
References
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^"La industria naval en la Argentina,Centro de Estudios para la Producción, 2000 "(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2008-08-29.Retrieved2008-11-25.
- ^"Pesados Argentinos - Astarsa 950"
- ^"Pesados Argentinos - Astarsa 120"
- ^"El juicio por los obreros de Astarsa",Página/12,
- ^"Los 16 desaparecidos de Astarsa aún piden justicia",Prensa Libre, 22 Mar 2011