German Navy’s new frigates have a listing problem: Report

German Navy’s new class of F125 frigates are overweight and keep listing to starboard, Reuters reported on May 12, quoting a confidential report.

Overall four frigates will be built by ThyssenKrupp and Luerssen with the first three already in water.

The lead ship in the class is wrapping up combat system trials and is set for a 2017 commissioning, while the second one recently completed the first set of builder’s trials.

According to the confidential annex to a regular German defense ministry report Reuters cited, the frigates are overweight and list 1.3 degrees to starboard.

German defense ministry did not confirm the report adding that the frigates remained on track “speaking in general terms”, according to Reuters.

The German Navy on multiple occasions shared videos of the FGS Baden-Württemberg, the lead ship in the class, but has never mentioned issues with the listing.

The four F125 frigates will replace the eight frigates of the F122-class, which will be gradually decommissioned. The ships were specifically designed for contemporary and future tasks of the German navy. The traditional duties of state-defense were broadened to encompass conflict prevention, crisis response as well as international intervention and stabilization operations.

By the end of the decade, the four ships will be operated by a total of eight crews with a total of 120 personnel each. The German Navy refers to this as the multiple-crew model where the eight crews will be operating as a closed team on a rotation principle.

The frigates are comparable to destroyers in size and are, with a length of 149 meters and a displacement of 7000 tonnes, the biggest operational ships in the German Navy.