COLOGNE, Germany — German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems will buy the Oceana shipyard in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina to manufacture Tamandaré-class frigates for Brazil’s Navy, the company announced this week.
The German vendor heads the Águas Azuis consortium, which is building an initial set of four ships based on its MEKO vessel design. The industry team also includes Embraer Defence and Security as well as its subsidiary Atech. TKMS, based in Kiel, Germany, has no production facilities for surface ships, which means the company must make arrangements for local production when selling its flagship vessel design overseas.
The pick of the Oceana yard, which specializes in offshore support vessels and is owned by CBO Group of Rio de Janeiro, was the result of the TKMS’ own economic and logistical analyses and turned out to be an “ideal option,” according to a spokesman.
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“The shipyard also offers us the prospect of taking on follow-on orders — not only locally, but also in other countries of South America,” CEO Rolf Wirtz was quoted as saying in a statement.
The acquisition is subject to approval by Brazilian antitrust authorities, and it is contingent on the frigate contract going into effect sometime in the “middle of the year,” the statement read. A company spokesman declined to name a date. Parties involved in the planned transaction would not disclose a price.
The Águas Azuis consortium aims to deliver the Tamandaré-class frigates between 2025 and 2028. The companies aim to train 800 local employees for the job. “This means that ships with a very high domestic added value can be built in Brazil,” the company said.
Embraer is slated to be the systems integrator for weapons and sensors on the new ships. Atech, with help from TKMS subsidiary Atlas Elektronik, will supply the combat management system.
Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.
