German Navy’s F125-class ship Sachsen-Anhalt sets sail for in-port trials

The German Navy’s third F125-class frigate, the future FGS Sachsen-Anhalt, has commenced its maiden journey from the Hamburg shipyard to carry out a series of in-port trials.

The trials are to be conducted over a period of nearly two weeks and will involve the assessment of the vessel’s technical systems and equipment, in addition to analysis of its propulsion system, manoeuvring behaviour and technical operations.

Sachsen-Anhalt represents the third of four 125-class ships currently being built for the German Navy under the €2bn F125 programme.

The contract for the vessels’ development was originally awarded in 2007 to the ARGE F125 consortium, which comprises lead company thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, as well as Fr. Lürssen Werft in Germany.

The four redesigned and upgraded F125-class vessels are expected to feature a high degree of automation.

In addition, the ships will be equipped with approximately 28,000 electric devices each and will be capable of being deployed in their area of operation for up to two years at a time.

The pre-fitted bow sections of the future FGS Sachsen-Anhalt were constructed at the Fr. Lürssen Werft shipyards in Bremen and Wolgast, while the ship’s stern sections were manufactured at Blohm+Voss shipyards in Hamburg under the direction of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.

The joining of the two sections is currently being carried out at the Blohm+Voss shipyards, along with various additional fitting-out works on-board the frigate.

Sachsen-Anhalt was initially christened by the German Navy at thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ Hamburg site in 2016.

The first two F125-class frigates, Baden-Württemberg and Nordrhein-Westfalen, were previously christened in December 2013 and April 2015 respectively.

The four new vessels are intended to replace the German Navy’s eight Bremen type 122-class frigates.