The Peruvian state-owned shipyard SIMA has awarded French defense contractor ECA Group a contract related to the overhaul of the Peruvian Navy’s four Type 209/1200 submarine.
As announced by the French company, the contract is for the delivery of 16 units of static converters to be fitted on the vessels.
The static converters are a suitable energy conversion solution for harsh environments such as inside submarines. ECA Group says its static converters are aboard several French submarines and were also supplied to other navies in South East Asia.
The four submarines that will be undergoing the upgrades are named Chipana, Angamos, Antofagasta and Pisagua. They were built in the early 1980s at the thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard (at that time HDW –Howaldtswerke- Deutsche Werft GmbH) in Kiel and have been used by the Peruvian Navy ever since.
The first boat to undergo the upgrades is the BAP Chipana which was dry docked in late 2017 for the maintenance.
The refit project will be supported by the German submarine specialist thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. In June 2016, Sima awarded TKMS a €40 million (approx. $45.44M) contract to help with the upgrades. The German company will be involved in engineering and technical services such as cutting and welding on the submarines and will make specialists available to provide local support over a period of seven years.