Berlin (dpa) – The German government has granted the delivery of nine patrol boats and a coast guard defence vessel from a shipyard in the north of the country to Egypt, according to a letter written by Economy Minister Peter Altmaier.
The order is valued at around 130 million euros (151 million dollars) in the document, which was seen by dpa on Monday.
The sale of the vessels from the Luerssen shipyard was approved by the government’s security council, which includes Chancellor Angela Merkel and several of her Cabinet ministers.
It is thought that the boats were originally destined for Saudi Arabia, until a defence export ban targeting the Gulf state came into effect in 2018.
Saudi Arabia is leading an alliance of Arab nations fighting against Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are supported by Iran. The war has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
Egypt is also part of the alliance.
On forming a coalition government in March 2018, Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats agreed to halt all defence exports to countries “directly” involved in the Yemen conflict.
An arms export ban targeting Saudi Arabia specifically was passed in November 2018 after dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. It has since been extended three times, and is currently to stay in place until the end of this year.
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