The Braunschweig-class corvette F261 Magdeburg. Photo: Bundeswehr Marine
BERLIN, Jan 26 (Reuters) – The German Defence Ministry on Thursday said it would skip an open tender for the planned purchase of five more corvettes valued at 1.5 billion euros and instead ask the three-company consortium that built the existing warships to submit a bid.
“The defence ministry has decided to ask the ARGE K130 consortium to bid for procurement of five additional, nearly identical ships,” a ministry spokesman said.
German lawmakers have criticised the ministry’s plans to skip a competition, saying it violated basic procurement principles mapped out by Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.
The ARGE K130 group that built the first five Braunschweig-class corvettes was led by Blohm + Voss GmbH, a Hamburg-based shipyard, with participation of two other shipyards, Friedrich Luerssen Werft in Bremen and SIAG Nordseewerke GmbH.
German lawmakers in October announced plans to spend 1.5 billion euros to buy five more of the ships to bolster security in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean.
Von der Leyen launched reforms to improve the transparency of the military’s procurement process shortly after taking over as defence minister in December 2013, following a series of scandals and problems with earlier weapons programmes.
Two of the biggest programmes launched since then have run into delays as they navigate the more rigorous process.
The ministry has delayed a 4 billion euro procurement of new multi-role ships by six months, and a bid to build a new medium-range missile defence system came in billions of euros over expected levels, which will likely also cause delays. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Writing by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
CAIRO, March 2 (Reuters) – The Houthi Transport Ministry in Yemen said on Saturday there had been a “glitch” in undersea communication cables in the Red Sea as a result of actions...
by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) In the current American labor landscape, the stark contrast between the assertive strides of transportation unions and the maritime sector’s unique labor challenges is striking....
By Mikhail Flores MANILA, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Evacuations were under way in the Philippines after a quake of at least magnitude 7.5 struck the southern region of Mindanao on Saturday night,...
December 2, 2023
Total Views: 2164
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.