Dutch Secretary of State for Defence Barbara Visser (VVD) says she will make a decision this year regarding the replacement of the Dutch submarines. She will then announce which companies the Netherlands wishes to continue negotiations with for the construction order of four new submarines.
For the mega-order worth 3.5 billion euros, there are currently four candidates still in the running: the Swedish-Dutch combination Saab-Damen, the French-Dutch combination of Naval Group and Koninklijke IHC, the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), and the Spanish Navantia.
The intention is to reduce the number of candidates from four to two this year. Currently, a major lobbying campaign is underway by the companies involved.
The Secretary of State said this week in AD that a slight delay occurred because the Dutch Parliament earlier this year established that the government must pay better and more attention to the interests of Dutch companies in major economic and financial contracts.
Promotion
Trade journals have reported in recent months that the Spanish and German offers are not the first preference of the Dutch Defence leadership. The Dutch business community has publicly advocated awarding the contract at least to one of the combinations working with a Dutch shipyard. In that case, the Swedish Saab, together with the originally Dutch Damen Shipyards, is also among the contenders.
Shipbuilder Damen is also currently competing for several other major naval orders. This concerns the construction of four frigates; two for the Dutch navy and two for the Belgian navy.
Last week, Damen again made negative headlines, with revelations by NRC about a bribery issue in Indonesia. Earlier, there was also an investigation by the Dutch Tax Authorities into payments and straw men. The partial takeover of a (second) Romanian shipyard on the Black Sea still haunts Damen as well.
In mid-last year, Damen bought a large loss-making Romanian shipyard, hoping to secure a major Romanian order. With a total area of 1 million square meters, that yard is immediately the largest of the 35 shipyards of the Dutch family company. However, that order was canceled following alleged bribery of Romanian military personnel and politicians.
‘We face a challenging time ahead, given the current position of the shipyard,’ said financial executive Eggink at the time regarding the problems at the Romanian Mangalia yard. This executive left the company this year due to the Indonesian tax evasion scheme that has now come to light.