Peruvian shipbuilder Sima Peru has completed the overhaul and upgrade of the first of four submarines – B.A.P. ‘Chipana’ – and delivered it to the Peruvian Navy on June 11th, 2025.
Sima Peru press release
The 11th of June of this year was a day of profound significance for national defence and the Peruvian naval industry. We witnessed a transcendental milestone: the end of the testing phase and the delivery of the B.A.P ‘Chipana’ to the glorious Peruvian Navy, after completing a modernisation process in the facilities of our Callao Operations Centre.
The modernisation work on the B.A.P ‘Chipana’ is a symbol of the maximum technical and professional capacity of our shipyards. Since the beginning of the submarine capacity recovery programme, this project has been a challenge that we have taken on with determination and vision for the future. It has demanded meticulous and complex work, which has included such delicate tasks as hull cutting and major and integral maintenance to a series of vital equipment, under the invaluable advice of the renowned German company Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, we have carried out an integral transformation of its systems, providing the B.A.P ‘Chipana’, the first of four submarines to undergo this process, with superior operational capabilities and significantly extending its useful life. This process has allowed us to consolidate our knowledge, systematise experiences and pave the way for the following projects.
For this event, rigorous tests such as launching, stability, watertightness, navigation at different speeds, immersion, functional tests, weapons and communications systems tests were carried out. This tested the hull’s resistance and the precision of its vital sensors.
This entire technical sequence was successfully completed, demonstrating the organisational efficiency and capacity of our personnel, thus strengthening our capabilities for future orders. The modernisation of the B.A.P ‘Chipana’ has profound implications that go beyond the technical, by integrating this renewed unit to the Peruvian Navy fleet, we are strengthening its deterrence capacity, maritime surveillance capacity and the protection of our interests in the vast Grau Sea.
Our objective has always been clear and bold: to keep the Peruvian submarine fleet at the technological forefront, ensuring our relevance in the naval scenario of the Region. With the experience gained with this project, SIMA Peru and the Peruvian Navy have demonstrated that our country has the capacity to undertake large-scale naval projects, which encourages us to look beyond submarine repairs and modernisations and to consider future construction projects together with strategic allies of the highest order to keep the Submarine Force at the forefront of technology and at the height of the challenges of national defence in the 21st century. It is in this spirit, with our heads held high, with the conviction of having fulfilled our duty, that we hand over the B.A.P. ‘Chipana’.
We hope that its navigation is safe, that its systems respond with precision and that this submarine inspires all Peruvians to believe in our ability to achieve great goals.
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Naval News visited Sima Peru shipyard recently, check out our video coverage below:
