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Mine hunter decommissioned after 35 years

The Dutch Royal Navy said a ceremonial farewell to HNLMS 'Vlaardingen' on March 27 after 35 years of service. The mine service will be completely renewed in the coming years. At the end of 2025, the first new mine countermeasures vessel Zr.Ms. 'Vlissingen' will be put into service. The 'Vlaardingen' often took part in NATO exercises and also cleared many explosives. In March, the ship defused three aircraft bombs in the North Sea. It involved two so-called 500-pounders and a 1,000-pounder. During the farewell ceremony, the war pennant, the Dutch flag and the Geus of the HNLMS 'Vlaardingen' were taken down. The geus is the flag that a ship flies as a salute. Former commanders traditionally received a letter from the ship's nameplate. The 'Vlaardingen' is donated to Ukraine. It is not yet known exactly when.

Mine hunter to be decommissioned and donated to Ukraine

The Zr.Ms. 'Vlaardingen' will be officially decommissionedon March 27, 2024, after 35 years of service with the Dutch Navy. The ship will be donated to Ukraine. The 'Vlaardingen' has been sailing longer than its planned lifespan. Last week, the ship cleared three more aircraft bombs from the bottom of the North Sea. From the summer until the end of 2023, the ship was also part of the permanent flotilla of mine countermeasures vessels SNMCMG1. The mine hunter was active in clearing mines, practicing mine countermeasures in a war situation and conducting patrols to protect the submarine infrastructure. Of the original fifteen mine hunters of the Alkmaar class, which were built in Alblasserdam, four are now still in Dutch service, the Zr.Ms. 'Makkum', 'Schiedam', 'Zierikzee' and 'Willemstad'. The navy will temporarily become a bit smaller, but in France, the Naval Group is building the new Dutch and Belgian mine countermeasures vessels. The 'Vlissingen', the first of the Dutch ships, was launched in 2023 and should enter Dutch service in 2025. In anticipation of this, the 'Vlaardingen' is being taken out of service, because personnel must be available for the new ships.

WW II bomb removed from Eurogeul

The Dutch Navy has defused a World War II aerial bomb in the night of May 2, 2023, which was located near a pipeline in the Eurogeul, the main shipping route to the port of Rotterdam. The ZrMs 'Vlaardingen' was deployed to carry out the task. In order not to damage the pipeline, the explosive was first moved, equipped with explosive material by naval divers and then detonated in a controlled manner.