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Denel signs dockyard agreement with German shipbuilding group

24th March 2017

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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South Africa’s State-owned defence industrial group Denel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). This agreement will allow Denel’s Maritime Division to take responsibility for the maintenance of, and upgrades to, the South African Navy’s (SAN’s) four Valour-class frigates and three Heroine-class submarines.

“This is a major breakthrough for the South African maritime sector as Denel becomes responsible for specialist services on some of the world’s most-sophisticated submarines and frigates,” affirms Denel acting CEO Zwelakhe Ntshepe. “These vessels are the sharp end of South Africa’s naval forces and the primary protectors of our coastline against possible intruders and illegal incursions into our territorial waters.”

TKMS is the original builder of both the SAN’s frigates and submarines and the MoU establishes a framework through which the German group will act as subcontractors to Denel, supplying technical and shipyard support. This will include technology transfer, quality assurance, procurement, local supply chain development, on-site technical support and the training of South African technical personnel in Germany. The German group will also supply general support to the dockyard, covering infrastructure, operations and maintenance. It will further contribute technical assistance for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the frigates and submarines at Simon’s Town.

Ensuring the operational availability, at all times, of the SAN’s most important warships is the key issue which underlies the agreement. All the activities undertaken within the framework of the MoU will be centred on making sure that these vessels will be able to spend as much time as possible at sea, ensuring the security of South African waters.

Denel sees the agreement as a significant impetus to government’s Operation Phakisa, which is aimed at stimulating the country’s maritime economic sector. “We are smoothing the waves for the growth of South Africa’s future maritime and shipbuilding industries,” he highlights. “The benefits of this agreement will cascade down into the Simon’s Town community, the Western Cape economy and the entire local defence and technology sectors.”

“Both TKMS and the SAN have demonstrated their confidence in Denel’s ability to look after our country’s most valuable naval assets,” points out Ntshepe. “We are confident of our ability to take over these responsibilities.” The experience developed by Denel is supporting the SAN’s major warships will subsequently become available for work on other vessels owned by government. In due course, the group plans to expand its dockyard operations to include support for the commercial maritime sector.

The Valour-class frigates are the SAS Amatola, the SAS Isandlwana, SAS Spioenkop and SAS Mendi. They are to the MEKO A200SAN design. According to the SAN, each displaces 3 590 t (full load), and has a length of 121 m, a beam of 16 m and a draught 5.95 m. Top speed is 28 knots. Armament is one 76 mm gun, one twin 35 mm gun, two 20 mm guns, plus a 16-cell vertical launch system for the Umkhonto surface-to-air missile; the ships can also each be fitted with eight Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles and two twin 324 mm anti-submarine torpedo tubes.

The Heroine-class submarines are the SAS Manthatisi, SAS Charlotte Maxeke and SAS Queen Modjadji I. They are to the Type 209-1400MOD(SA) design. They are reported to displace 1 450 t on the surface and 1 600 t when dived. Each has a length of 62 m, a beam of 7.6 m and a height of 5.8 m. Each has eight 533 mm torpedo tubes and can carry up to 14 torpedoes.

The MoU with TKMS is a part of Denel’s strategy to develop important strategic relationships in the maritime sector. It was signed aboard the frigate SAS Amatola, in Rostock, in Germany. Denel is in the process of taking over responsibility for the Simon’s Town Dockyard (not to be confused with the co-located Simon’s Town Naval Base) from Armscor.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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