11:50 GMT, July 3, 2009 Yesterday, a contract was signed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), Kiel, a company of ThyssenKrupp Technologies, and MarineForce International LLP (MFI), London, for the delivery of six material packages for the construction of Class 214 submarines to Turkey.

The contract was signed in Ankara in the presence of the Turkish Defence Minister Mehmet Vecdi Gönül, the Chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG Dr. Olaf Berlien, the Executive Board Member of ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG Dr. Hans Christoph Atzpodien, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Ministry of Defence Thomas Kossendey and the Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral Wolfgang E. Nolting.

The six submarines to be equipped with an air independent propulsion system based on the HDW fuel-cell technology will be built by Gölçük Naval Shipyards (GNSY) near Izmit. The shipyard has already built 11 Class 209 submarines for the Turkish Navy.

By placing this order, Turkey is another country to equip her navy with this at present most modern air independent submarine type. There will then be 36 submarines with HDW fuel cell propulsion systems in operation world-wide.

Dr. Olaf Berlien underlines the importance of the new major order: "HDW’s position as world market leader in the sector of non-nuclear submarines will be further strengthened. The contract safeguards not only jobs at HDW, but also several hundred jobs at subcontractors all over Germany for some time to come."