Dutch Navy News

Dutch shipbuilder Damen has delivered a virtual copy of the under-construction Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder, to a branch of the Dutch Ministry of Defense, so the crews can get to know the ship even before it's been delivered to the Royal Netherlands Navy."The new Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder has not yet been delivered, but the crew can already get to know the ship thanks to an extensive Virtual Reality package. [... ] Damen Naval has delivered a virtual copy of the ship to the Materieel & IT Command (COMMIT).

Belgium said it is investigating the presence of a Russian "spy ship" in the North Sea, a day after its neighbor the Netherlands reported that Russia was targeting North Sea infrastructure.The ship was detected in the Belgian North Sea around mid-November last year, Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Justice and North Sea minister, said in a statement headlined "Russian spy ship off our coast in November".While the presence of Russian ships in the North Sea is not forbidden, Belgium said it was monitoring the situation closely…

Subsea services provider N-Sea has exercised its option to acquire Geosea DP2 multipurpose support vessel from DOF Subsea for an undisclosed sum.N-Sea is expected to become the owner of the 2002-built vessel during the second or the third quarter of 2022.The vessel has been under management by N-Sea on a long-term vessel agreement with DOF Subsea Rederi AS for the last few years and has worked since then for the Royal Dutch Navy, on a long-term charter.Arno van Poppel, N-Sea CEO said:" We are proud to announce that the Geosea will soon become under the full control…

The Netherlands' defense minister said on Tuesday that Russian fighter jets armed with air-to-surface missiles had harassed a Dutch navy frigate in the Black Sea earlier this month, conducting mock attacks and jamming communication systems.The Russian defense ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets and bombers to prevent the frigate from entering Russian waters, according to news agencies.The Russian military said the warplanes flew at a safe distance from the vessel and in…

The maiden voyage of a new British aircraft carrier will seek to show allies that post-Brexit Britain is ready to defend Western interests and eager to see China respect international rules, the vessel’s commander said.HMS Queen Elizabeth took part in NATO exercises in the Mediterranean this week, ahead of the eight-month voyage that will cross through the South China Sea in a signal to Beijing that sea lanes must remain open.The carrier is “a hugely powerful statement,” Commodore Steve Moorhouse…

Britain's Queen Elizabeth visited the country's new aircraft carrier on Saturday, named in honor of Elizabeth I, before it leads a flotilla of Royal Navy ships to Asian waters on its maiden operational voyage.The queen, aged 95, stepped aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth, seven years after she named the vessel alongside her late husband Prince Philip who died last month.The 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth will carry eight British F-35B fighter jets and 10 U.S. F-35s as well as 250 U.S.

Vestdavit has bolstered its presence in the European market with the launch of a new subsidiary in the Netherlands that positions it for business growth in one of the world’s major maritime hubs. The Norwegian davit supplier is now able to provide readily available resources and expertise for new and existing clients from its Vestdavit BV office located in Maastricht that opened on May 1.Headed by managing director Kai Gjerde, the office will function as a sales and service center located at the intersection of the Netherlands…

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) has ordered energy management and electric propulsion package from GE’s Power Conversion for the new Combat Support Ship (CSS) being built for the Royal Netherlands Navy.The CSS ordered by the Dutch government in December 2019 will be 180 meters in length, will accommodate a 75-persons basic crew, with capacity for an additional 85 persons on-board. GE’s will deliver main switchboards for the ship distribution system, with two shore connection cubicles…

Jaap de Lange was appointed Managing Director of AEGIR-Marine, a stern seal and propulsion services company. He started his career in the Royal Dutch Navy, and was in consulting for 23 years in a variety of roles. Since 2009 he worked for Damen Shipyards in several senior leadership positions.“We are convinced that Jaap de Lange is the right man for the job in the present phase of our companies,” said Ruud Muis, owner of AEGIR-Marine. “His experience working within different cultures around the globe…

The Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, composed of Naval Group and ECA Group, won the contract to supply 12 minehunting vessels to the Belgian and Dutch navies. Equipped with around 100 drones, constituting approximately 10 drone systems (toolboxes), six ships are destined for the Belgian Navy, while the other six will be delivered to the Dutch Navy.The 10-year contract is worth nearly $2.3B. After a three-year design phase, Belgium Naval & Robotics will launch the production…

Damen Shipyards Den Helder (DSDH) and the Netherlands’ Defense Material Organization (DMO) procurement agency have signed a contract for the design, build and delivery of a prototype Expeditionary Survey Boat (ESB).The craft will be optimized for rapid environmental assessments and hydrographic surveys in harbors, river mouths, shallow waters, coastal areas and shipping channels.The craft will be manned by four persons; two to crew the boat and two technicians to operate the hydrographic equipment, and will be able to spend up over 60 hours continuously at sea at her survey speed of 5 knots.

Two floating docks have completed their 26-day voyage across the North Atlantic to Damen Shiprepair Curaçao (DSCu) in the southern Caribbean.The larger of the two is a Panamax-class dock measuring 230 meters by 45 meters for tankers, containerships and other large vessels, while the smaller dock measures 108 meters by 23 meters for all kinds of tugs, workboats and offshore support and anchor handling vessels.The two docks were delivered by the heavy-lift carrier Xin Guang Hua to the Port of Willemstad, Curaçao on April 26, following a trip with more than its share of bad weather.

In an official handover ceremony at the Den Helder Naval Base, the Royal Netherlands Navy took formal delivery of three Damen ASD 2810 Hybrid tugs. In addition to providing an increase in ship handling capacity, the new vessels are also installed with hybrid propulsion systems. This will contribute to Dutch Ministry of Defence ambitions regarding sustainable operations of the Navy. The acquisition of the three Damen tugs is part of the Royal Netherlands Navy’s ongoing fleet renewal programme. The hybrid vessels, named Noordzee, Waddenzee and Zuiderzee, can sail under diesel-direct, diesel-electric or fully-electric power. This will result in a significant increase in fuel efficiency and reduction of exhaust emissions.

Coast Guardsmen on the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber offloaded approximately 515 kilograms of cocaine interdicted in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbean Venture worth an estimated wholesale value of $17 million at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida, Friday. On November 15, a Joint Interagency Task Force South maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious go-fast vessel with multiple packages aboard southeast of Isla Beata, Dominican Republic. The HNLMS Friesland, an offshore patrol vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy, responded to the report and interdicted the vessel with four suspected smugglers and suspicious packages on deck. A U.S.

A two-year project is underway which will lead to the development of a Fast Small Ship Simulator. Driving a small, fast navy boat in heavy seas can be a real challenge. Effects of broaching, surfing, capsizing risk, slamming and planing put severe demands on the crew and the boat handling. It requires a well developed  skill-set to safely navigate  under various operational  circumstances. With these challenges in mind, a two-year project has just started  to develop a dedicated  training tool, which is currently known as the Fast Small Ship Simulator (FSSS) or FS3.

A new Fast Small Ship Simulator for training crews working on high speed boats is in development. Together with Cruden and Tree C Technology, the Royal Dutch Naval Defense School and the Royal Dutch Navy’s Surface Assault Training Group, the consortium aims to reduce wear on front-line operational vessels and sharply reduce fuel costs, while also opening up the possibility of coordinating with other marine simulators.    http://www.marin.nl (As published in the June 2015 edition of Marine News - http://magazines.marinelink.com/Magazines/MaritimeNews)

On Saturday, March 8, Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert ceremonially named the Karel Doorman, the new Joint Support Ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ceremony took place in Vlissingen at the shipyard operated by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding. With a length of 204.7 meters, the Karel Doorman is the biggest ship in the Dutch navy. The new logistical support vessel can be deployed to supply units at sea, for strategic sea transport and for logistical support from the sea (seabasing), with the ship acting as a seaborne base for implementing and supporting land operations.

The Defense Material Organization of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) has contracted Damen Shipyards Group for the delivery of five Harbor and Seagoing tugs. The contract has been made in cooperation with its Swedish counterpart: Swedish Försvarets Materielverk (FMV). Responding to current and future developments in emission reduction and environmentally friendly shipping, the RNLN has opted for a new Damen design: the ASD Tug 2810 Hybrid. The FMV has opted for another fit-for-purpose design: the ice-classed ASD Tug 3010 ICE.

Alewijnse’s International Switchboard Production division will have a stand at this year’s 25th Netherlands Industries for Defense & Security symposium and exhibition. This follows work by Alewijnse in recent years on a number of naval projects, including the electrical installation for the 28,000-metric-ton Joint Support Ship, currently being fitted out at Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding, Vlissingen. Experience gained on this vessel plus on other projects including the supply of Combat Management Consoles directly to the Dutch navy has given Alewijnse valuable insights into the demands and high level specifications required by naval shipyards when it comes to building switchboards and other mission-critical electrical infrastructure.

On October 2, 2013, eleven pirates were convicted in the Seychelles Supreme Court of committing acts of piracy and operating a pirate vessel from May 7-11, 2012. Their sentences ranged from 18 months to 16 years. The pirates had been apprehended by the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate, HNLMS Van Amstel, on May 11, 2012, after the warship’s Lynx helicopter sighted a suspicious fishing dhow towing two skiffs, 400 nautical miles off the Somali coast. When the warship’s boarding team approached the dhow…

11  pirates have been convicted in the Seychelles Supreme Court of committing acts of piracy and operating a pirate vessel between 7 – 11 May 2012. Their sentences ranged from 18 months to 16 years. The pirates had been apprehended by the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate, HNLMS Van Amstel, on 11 May 2012, after the warship’s Lynx helicopter sighted a suspicious fishing dhow towing 2 skiffs, 400 nautical miles off the Somali coast. When the warship’s boarding team approached the dhow, the Dutch Navy crew found 11 suspected pirates of Somali origin and a total of 17 hostages on board.

Imtech Marine signed a contract to be involved in the execution of the capability upkeep program Walrus-class submarines (IP-W) of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Dutch Defense Materiel Organization granted Imtech Marine Netherlands the assignment to carry out the mechanical, engineering and electrical upgrade works on board the submarines. The assignment will be carried out at the Naval base in Den Helder and will run from 2013 until 2020. IP-W includes a large number of modifications, such as disassembly, assembly and installation of a variety of equipment and systems.

Victaulic, is supporting sea cadets in Hellevoetsluis, the Netherlands, as they repair and refit the Zeefakkel, which suffered serious fire damage in an arson attack last October. The company has donated 25 light-weight galvanised Style 75 flexible couplings to replace ones used nearly 30 years ago to connect 100mm piping for the sewage lines on board. The cadets are carrying out the work themselves under the supervision of retired Dutch Navy employee, Rob van Houten, who has knowledge of Victaulic systems used on Dutch Navy ships.