South Korea Orders Second Batch of Six U-214 Submarines / Six More Submarines of Class 214 for South Korea

South Korea Orders Second Batch of Six U-214 Submarines / Six More Submarines of Class 214 for South Korea

(NSI News Source Info) HAMBURG/KIEL, Germany - January 8, 2009: A contract for the delivery of six material packages to build Class 214 submarines for Korea was signed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG, and MarineForce International LLP (MFI). The contract was made between the HDW/MFI consortium and the South Korean procurement authority DAPA (Defense Acquisition Program Administration).

This will provide Korea with a 2nd batch of boats in this successful class of submarines.

South Korea will manufacture six additional Type 214 submarines under license from Germany. The second Korean Type 214 boat is seen here at delivery last month.

After studying the tenders produced by national Korean shipyards, DAPA selected Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build the first boat of the 2nd batch. Submission of tenders for the second boat is due to take place in summer 2009.

All six boats will be equipped with an air independent propulsion system on the basis of fuel cells. The 2nd batch of Class 214 for the Korean Navy is a further development of the already proven overall design for the first three boats. The new submarines will be almost identical to the 1st batch boats, which were ordered in 2000 and all three of which were built/are being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries. The first two boats of this class were delivered to the Korean Navy in December 2007 and 2008.

The contract further underlines the position of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems as worldwide market leader in the field of non-nuclear submarines. It safeguards not only industrial core capabilities and jobs at the two locations of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in Kiel and Emden but also several hundred jobs with subcontractors all over Germany for the coming years.

Main Characteristics of Class 214 submarines for the Republic of Korea Navy:

-- Length: approx. 66 m

-- Height: approx. 13 m

-- Displacement: approx. 1,800 t

-- Crew: 27

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG, with its head office in Hamburg, Germany, is part of ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG within the ThyssenKrupp Group. With its technological competence, extensive portfolio and continuous innovations the corporate group, being the umbrella organisation for shipyards in Germany, Sweden and Greece and various marine engineering companies, represents one of the leading systems houses in European shipbuilding. HDW is the competence centre for the development and the building of submarines within the network. The company is world market leader in building non-nuclear submarines.