The German 670-company corporation ThyssenKrupp confirmed that it is looking to restructure its shipbuilding division after failing to secure the Australian future submarines mega contract.
“The corporation will determine whether Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is structurally well set and how the performance can be further heightened”, a Thyssenkrupp spokesman said in response to a report by the German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”.
The newspaper quoted an internal TKMS memo which said that the company would not be able to operate as it did before under the current circumstances. According to “Welt am Sonntag”, the memo addressed the upcoming utilization-low that the Kiel, Hamburg and Emden shipyards will encounter in the near future.
In addition to confirming the memo, TKMS noted that there were no official decisions yet. The company added that it is currently concentrated on the construction of current submarines and ships and on securing further shipbuilding contracts.
ThyssenKrupp was one of three shortlisted bidders in the Australian $50 billion submarine contract but lost to the French state-owned shipbuilder DCNS.