Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) shipyard in Kiel, northern Germany, is handing over the second of four submarines to Singapore.
Passers-by in the harbour were able to watch the 70-metre-long boat being loaded onto a special ship. The Invincible is to be transported to Singapore by the Rolldock Star. A spokesperson for TKMS did not want to comment on this when asked.
In April, the last of four submarines was christened Inimitable during a ceremony at the Kiel shipyard in the presence of the German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and former Deputy Prime Minister and current Singapore Minister Teo Chee Hean.
“Singapore is an important partner for us in the area of security policy and our cooperation is not limited to defence cooperation,” Pistorius said.
Much of the world’s trade passes through the Singapore Strait in Southeast Asia.
The four Invincible class boats for Singapore are 70 meters long and are among the largest submarines built in Germany since World War II. They have an air-independent fuel cell propulsion system. They are designed for a crew of 28.
The total value of the defense contract is likely to be in the billions of euros.
