The Royal Netherlands Navy ceremoniously bid farewell to HNLMS Makkum on 25 November. The minehunter was decommissioned after almost forty years of service at the naval base in Den Helder. The vessel will now be donated to Ukraine.
During its operational life, HNLMS Makkum was frequently deployed for NATO. The ship also took part in many exercises and cleared many explosives, 120 of them in the North Sea. The vessel is being decommissioned as the mine service will be completely renewed in the comming years.
The farewell ceremony included guests from the village of Makkum and the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. The jack, commissioning pennant and Dutch flag were taken down at this. The commissioning pennant was handed over to the last commander of the Makkum, Lieutenant Commander Dave de Kruijff. Following tradition, the nameplates were presented in pieces, letter by letter, to former commanders of the Makkum. They were also given a commemorative coin.
Also read: Dutch navy removes minehunter HNLMS Vlaardingen from service
Replacement
Eventually, all Alkmaar-class minehunters will be replaced by six new Mine Countermeasure Vessels including a state-of-the-art toolbox with unmanned systems to detect and clear explosives. The first new ship Vlissingen is under construction and will be handed over to the Royal Netherlands Navy by the end of 2025.
The Makkum, like HNLMS Vlaardingen, will be donated to Ukraine. When that will happen is not yet known.
Also read: Fourth Mine Countermeasure Vessel launched, steel cut for number eight
Still weekly reports of old explosives
In the North Sea, tens of thousands of sea mines, aircraft bombs and other ammunition remnants are still estimated to be lying around. Every week, fishermen and others find World War I and II explosives off the coast of the Netherlands and Belgium. They are fished up, marked and reported to the Netherlands Coastguard. A minehunter then defuses the explosive.
Picture: HNLMS Makkum (by the Dutch Ministry of Defence).
Also read: Dutch Defence destroys WWII bomb found aboard dredger
