The Royal Netherlands Navy’s harbour service in Den Helder will take delivery of three new medium-sized seagoing harbour tugs next year. Shipyard Neptune Marine will build the vessels.
The contract for delivery was signed by the Defence Materiel and IT Command and Neptune Marine on 23 January. It also includes two years of maintenance.
The new vessels will carry out towing operations for the Navy. The tugs will also assist with fuel supply operations and emergency response. The harbour service is responsible for berthing and unberthing naval ships.
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Modern fleet
The new harbour tugs will replace the current Breezand and Linge class tugs. Earlier, the Noordzee and Bolder classes were introduced. With the arrival of the new vessels, the harbour service will have a fully modern fleet.
Picture: Artist impression of the new tugboats for the Royal Netherlands Navy (photo by the Dutch Ministry of Defence).
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