The fleet of Mine Countermeasure Vessels for the Royal Netherlands Navy and Belgian Navy continues to grow. On 5 November, two new milestones of the binational project were achieved at the shipyard in Romania.
This included the launch of the Scheveningen, the fourth ship in the series of twelve. Later that day, the first steel for the eighth ship, the Harlingen, was also cut.
Twelve new ships
The current mine countermeasure vessels are nearing the end of their service life and are therefore due for replacement.
Eventually, six ships will be built for the Belgian Navy and six ships for the Dutch Navy. The first ship of this series, the Oostende, has now passed its first sailing trials and will be handed over to Belgium next summer. The first minehunter for the Royal Netherlands Navy is the Vlissingen, which is to become operational next year.
Also read: Construction of Mine Countermeasure Vessel IJmuiden kicks off
Delays for first four vessels
Originally, the first ship was to become operational in December 2024, but in May, Marineschepen.nl reported that deliveries of the first four vessels were to be delayed. Builder Belgian Naval & Robotics cited Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, the energy and resource crisis and labour shortages as reasons for the delay.
It meant delivery of the Oostende was pushed back from December to August 2025, the Vlissingen from June 2025 to December 2025 and one to two months’ delay for the Tournai and Scheveningen after that. The subsequent ships are still planned to follow the original timeline, with the last being delivered in 2030.
Also read: First new Dutch Mine Countermeasure Vessel hits the water
Large role for drones
The new ships have a revolutionary design. This involves the systems, but also the way they operate. The vessels will be equipped with modern sensors that can detect mines.
There is also room on board for unmanned sailing and flying drones. This eliminates the need for the vessels to pass through areas where there may be sea mines or other explosives. Instead, the crew can remotely detect and defuse mines.
Minehunter tasks
The main task of minehunters is to keep the sea, coastal waters and port estuaries mine-free. They also protect naval units in mine-hazard areas around the world. The units are deployed worldwide in support of land operations from the sea. Think of mine clearance of a coastal strip section for an amphibious landing. But also closer to home for locating and clearing sea mines and explosives at sea in the Dutch part of the continental shelf.
In addition, Dutch minehunters are permanently part of the NATO mine countermeasure fleet SNMCMG 1 (Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1). And the ships can be deployed to locate shipwrecks and missing containers that pose a threat.
Also read: New Belgian Mine Countermeasure Vessel hits the water
City names
It is customary to give naval vessels the name of a naval hero, celestial body, province or city. In the case of the Dutch minehunters, they chose port cities that the ships actually call at. This connects the vessel with the inhabitants of the city of the same name. The names chosen are Vlissingen, IJmuiden, Harlingen, Scheveningen, Delfzijl and Schiedam. Once the ships are operational, the prefix HNLMS will be added to the name.
The Belgian vessels will be named Oostende, Tournai, Brugge, Liège, Antwerpen and Rochefort.
Pictures (supplied) by Materiel and IT Command.
