German submarine manufacturer TKMS says it is well placed to win a Canadian contract for the construction of up to 12 submarines, with chief executive Oliver Burkhard expressing confidence on Monday that the company could secure the deal.
"I expect us to win this," Burkhard said.
TKMS is competing against South Korean rival Hanwha Ocean for the contract. The order volume is likely to exceed €10 billion ($11.78 billion), depending on the number of vessels, according to information obtained by dpa. TKMS declined to comment on the figure.
It comes as the naval shipbuilder, based in the northern German city of Kiel, posted a record €20.6 billion in orders for the six months up to end-March.
"We have put together an industrial package that, I believe, is without equal," Burkhard said of the TKMS bid. "We have never had anything of this scale before." A decision could come this month or next, he said.
Both TKMS and Hanwha Ocean have announced partnerships with Canadian companies to improve their chances of winning the contract. TKMS is one of the world's leading builders of conventionally powered submarines.
Burkhard said visits by German government representatives had helped support the bid, which is now in its "crunch time." Most recently, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil lobbied Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on behalf of the German company.
According to previous statements by Burkhard, Canada wants the first new submarines in service by 2035 at the latest. If TKMS wins the contract, the vessels would be built at the company's main site in Kiel and at its second shipyard in Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Record orders
Even without the Canadian order, the shipyard's order books are replete with submarine and related contracts, amid high demand for defence equipment. In the first half of the financial year - October 2025 to March 2026 - the order backlog reached a record €20.6 billion.
For Germany and Norway, the shipyard is building six submarines each of the new Type 212CD, which Canada is also interested in.
The letters "CD" stand for Common Design. Standardization is intended to reduce costs and facilitate cooperation between the navies of different countries.
The new submarines will be around 72 metres long - slightly longer than Germany's current Type 212A boats - and will feature improved sensors, space for a crew of 30 and a design specifically suited to operations in the Arctic and under ice, TKMS said.
Late last year, TKMS received a torpedo contract from the German military. In January, it emerged that the Norwegian government had ordered two additional submarines, on top of four already on order.
Total new orders amounted to €3.4 billion, below the level of the same period a year earlier.
Burkhard said the company could meet the orders through its own shipyards, but added: "Looking ahead, we are already examining possible international partnerships."
Turnover was up 10% at €1.17 billion, with contracts completed on schedule, the company said. Profits adjusted for interest and taxes rose 14% to €60 million.
Net profit came in at €27 million, a fall of 41% due to investment in the company's expansion, including spending on research and development and on marketing.
Rival shipyard bids
TKMS is in competition with German defence manufacturer Rheinmetall to acquire its neighbouring Kiel shipyard, German Naval Yards, which belongs to the French group CMN Naval.
"Money alone does not build ships," Burkhard said in a pointed remark directed at Rheinmetall. He acknowledged that Rheinmetall was clearly better funded than TKMS, and said he did not want to enter a bidding war that made no economic sense for TKMS.
Rheinmetall said on Thursday that it had submitted a non-binding offer for the shipyard. CMN Naval did not respond to a request for comment.
While TKMS has been bidding for the yard for some time, Rheinmetall only recently entered the shipbuilding sector, having acquired the naval division of the Bremen-based Lürssen shipbuilding group in February.
German Naval Yards builds large naval vessels such as frigates and corvettes, as well as ocean-going yachts. The two naval shipyards share a site and were long part of the same company, both having emerged from the former HDW (Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG), whose origins date back to 1838.
The former HDW surface shipbuilding operations were spun off and now trade as German Naval Yards.
