Volunteer marine rescue organisation Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij; KNRM) has placed orders for new search and rescue (SAR) boats to be built by local companies Habbeke Shipyard and Dok en Scheepsbouw Woudsend.
The contract covers the construction 12 boats and has a value of approximately €20 million (US$21 million). Construction of the new boats is scheduled to commence in 2026.
Both Habbeke Shipyard and Dok en Scheepsbouw Woudsend have been manufacturing boats for the KNRM for years.
The new SAR boats will be improved variants of a series of self-righting, waterjet-powered rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) that the KNRM has been operating since the early 1990s.
Eleven of the new SAR boats will be deployed out of the KNRM's rescue stations in Zandvoort, Wijk aan Zee, Cadzand, Harlingen, Enkhuizen, Urk, Hansweert, Terschelling, Noordwijk, Westkapelle, and Ter Heijde. The twelfth boat will be made available as a standby reserve vessel.