The corvette “Lübeck” was christened today at the Blohm+Voss shipyard. It is the first ceremony since the takeover by the armaments group Rheinmetall.
The ship is the fifth corvette of the 130 class (2nd batch). Huong Nguyen, partner of Lübeck city president Henning Schumann, christened the approximately 89-meter-long boat “Lübeck” at Rheinmetall’s Blohm+Voss site in Hamburg in front of representatives from politics, business and the Bundeswehr. The naming ceremony took place in the presence of Vice Admiral Axel Deertz, Deputy Inspector of the Navy and Commander of the Fleet and Support Forces, Jürgen Giefer, Director of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, and Lübeck’s Mayor Jan Lindenau.
“The christening of the ship is also a special milestone for us and for me personally,” said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall. “After all, this is the first ceremony of its kind for us Rheinmetallers. Together with our new Naval Systems division, we are taking the lead in this and other important shipbuilding projects, assuming responsibility for the defense capabilities of our country and our NATO partners. My thanks go to all employees and our partners who are working with great commitment to complete these technically demanding naval units.”
The “Lübeck” will now be commissioned as planned at the Hamburg site with its final equipment and will subsequently undergo all necessary functional checks and acceptance tests in coordination with the specialist departments of the public client and the German Navy.
“With the christening of the last corvette of the second batch, we have reached an important stage in the overall project,” said Tim Wagner, CEO of Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division. “Our focus is now on the upcoming milestones, which will reach their climax this year with the delivery of the two corvettes ‘Emden’ and ‘Köln’ to our customer.”
The new units are designed in particular for coastal operations and are therefore suitable for reconnaissance and maritime target engagement, especially in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
“The fact that the corvette bears the name of our city is an honor and at the same time a signal of solidarity with our armed forces, which perform an important service for the security of our country and peace in the world,” said Jan Lindenau, Mayor of the sponsor city of Lübeck. “I am delighted that the navy represents the name of our Hanseatic city and thus also acts as an ambassador for a traditional, cosmopolitan port city.”
The new corvettes are being built by the K130 consortium (ARGE) under the leadership of Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division in cooperation with TKMS and German Naval Yards Kiel. The Blohm+Voss shipyard is part of Naval Vessels Lürssen (NVL). The company and all its subsidiaries were taken over by Rheinmetall at the beginning of March, with both partners keeping the purchase price confidential.
