The locomotives will be delivered within 20 months and will be deployed on sulphuric acid trains from Tsumeb to Arandis, which will be operated TransNamib under a 10-year deal awarded earlier this year by Dundee Precious Metal Tsumeb.

TransNamib has been suffering from a chronic locomotive shortage which has been alleviated in part by the delivery of five refurbished GE locomotives from Transnet Engineering, South Africa, although most of the railway's fleet of around 70 units remains out of service.