ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems

Press release, 2009-01-14

Contract for the modernisation of Colombian Class 209 submarines

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG, and MarineForce International LLP (MFI) signed a contract in December 2008 for two material packages for the maintenance and modernisation of the Colombian Navy submarines “A.R.C. Pijao” and “A.R.C. Tayrona”. The contract was signed between the HDW/MFI consortium and the Colombian Ministry of Defence.

HDW built the two boats in Kiel from 1970 and delivered them five years later to the Colombian Navy. Since then, the two Class 209/1200 boats have been subjected to two modernisation programmes at the shipyard in Germany where they were built. This new modernisation project will be carried out in Colombia by the state-owned shipyard COTECMAR in Cartagena. The scope of delivery by HDW and MFI encompasses the two material packages as well as support for COTECMAR with technical know-how.

The Colombian shipyard plans to conclude the project by the end of 2011. For ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and MFI, this contract is another indication of the unbroken trust of South American navies in German submarine technology. With 63 units contracted to date, the HDW Class 209 submarines represent the most successful non-nuclear submarine class in the world. In South America alone, submarines of this class are in service in seven navies.

A.R.C. Tayrona,
submarine of the Columbian Navy.