Egypt’s second Type 209 submarine passes Kiel Canal en route home

S42, the Egyptian Navy’s second Type 209/1400 submarine, has started her voyage home transiting the Kiel Canal on October 1.

The submarine is to head from the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard to the Egyptian Navy base in Alexandria where she is expected to be welcomed on October 21.

En route to Egypt, S42 will meet up with corvette ENS El Fateh – the first Gowind 2500 corvette to be delivered to the Egyptian Navy by French shipbuilder Naval Group.

S42 was delivered to the Egyptian Navy in a ceremony on August 8, while the ENS El Fateh delivery ceremony took place on September 22.

Both vessels are set to make a ceremonial entrance on Egyptian Navy day which commemorates the day Egyptian Naval Forces sank Israeli destroyer INS Eilat in 1967.

S42 was launched in December 2016 as the second of four submarines TKMS is to build for the Egyptian Navy. The ceremony took place four months after Egypt welcomed its first submarine S41 to the naval base in Alexandria, on April 19.

Egypt initially ordered two Type-209/1400mod submarines in 2011 and later ordered two more in 2014 as replacement for its ageing Romeo-class submarines.