thyssenkrupp Marine Systems with new CEO

Dr Rolf Wirtz hands over the chairmanship to Oliver Burkhard

The company is calling it a handover of the baton: Dr Rolf Wirtz will be leaving the company on 1 May, as announced in December 2021. With the expiry of his contract, he had prepared an orderly handover in good time. At an extraordinary meeting on 18 March 2022, the Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems appointed its previous Chairman Oliver Burkhard as the new CEO of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. Dr Rolf Wirtz has headed the company since 2017 and was previously CEO of ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, whose integration into the system house he drove forward. During his time at the company, he digitalised processes from purchasing to design and production.

Photo of the tkms site (Michael Nitz)

Martina Merz, CEO thyssenkrupp AG: "thyssenkrupp and I personally would like to thank Dr Rolf Wirtz most sincerely for his achievements at the helm of Marine Systems." With the largest order in the company's history, the construction and delivery of six identical 212 CD submarines for Norway's and Germany's navies, as well as further orders for Israel, Egypt and Brazil, the company has well-filled order books for the coming years.

"The decision not to step down as CEO for another five years was not an easy one for me, as I am very committed to the company," concluded Wirtz, who will continue to be available to the company as a consultant.

The announced change at thyssenkrupp Marine Systems has been completed. As planned (Marineforum reported), Dr Rolf Wirtz handed over the reins to Oliver Burkhard on 1 May.

Dr Rolf Wirtz expanded the Kiel-based company into a system house and drove forward the integration of ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, of which he was previously CEO. In 2017, thyssenkrupp AG acquired the minority shares in ATLAS ELEKTRONIK from Airbus Defence & Space, formerly EADS, and thus became a shareholder of today's ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH. The Kiel shipyard has achieved many successes under Dr Wirtz in recent years. His balance sheet is estimated to have an order volume of around 14 billion euros. In addition to the frigate/corvette contracts with Egypt and Brazil, this includes the contract announced in January 2022 for the delivery of three submarines for the Israeli Navy, which according to press reports is worth 3 billion euros. In the summer of 2021, tkMS was able to secure the Norwegian-German joint programme U212CD, with Germany procuring two boats and Norway four.

In this respect, the new boss takes over an order book that should be well filled by the mid-1930s. And tkMS stands for more than just submarines and MEKOs (frigates/corvettes). The Kiel-based company is involved in the development of autonomous underwater vehicles, the disposal of munitions in the North and Baltic Seas and innovations in production and manufacturing.

This was the second change at a major shipbuilding company at the mouth of the Schwentine within six months. On 1 December, the previous CEO of German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK), Jörg Herwig, handed over the helm to Rino Brugge. The Dutchman, who comes from a shipbuilding family, had previously worked for the Damen Group for many years.