According to the company, Wirtz opted not to extend his contract with the supervisory board appointing former chairman Oliver Burkhard as the new chief executive officer in March.

Throughout his tenure, Wirtz further integrated ATLAS ELEKTRONIK and expanded the company into a systems house, digitising much of the company’s processes.

“thyssenkrupp and I personally would like to thank Dr Rolf Wirtz very much for his achievements at the helm of Marine Systems. With a strong team, he initiated the turnaround of the company. In addition, orders such as the German-Norwegian submarine project and the Egyptian frigate program were successfully negotiated by our side with him at the helm,” Martina Merz, chief executive officer of thyssenkrupp AG, said.

The company is current completing its largest ever order for six Type 212CD submarines for Germany and Norway, with additional orders for Israel, Egypt and Brazil in the pipeline.

“The decision not to run again as CEO for five years was not easy for me, as I am very attached to the company. But the ship is on a clear course, and I am convinced that its excellent team will continue to be very successful. I look forward to continuing to play my part as a consultant,” Wirtz said.

[Related: thyssenkrupp Marine Systems reveals new CEO]