Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Rotterdam with local company Huisman Equipment to compete for the Royal Netherlands Navy’s Walrus-class submarine replacement programme.
The company said the both firms had agreed to look at setting up construction and assembly lines in the Netherlands for a submarine that will be based on Navantia’s own S-80 design.
Navantia is currently building four S-80 vessels for the Spanish Navy, with the first due to be delivered by about late 2022 from its Cartagena yards.
The shipbuilder said it is well prepared, with “state-of-the-art engineering and management tools to support the construction in other countries, such as the Netherlands”.
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