The governments of Belgium and the Netherlands will transfer a total of seven mine countermeasures (MCM) vessels as well as spare parts and a simulator to Bulgaria.
The Belgian Ministry of Defence (MOD) said that the transfer will be undertaken free of charge and will cover four ex-Belgian Navy MCM vessels and three formerly operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Belgian and Dutch Tripartite-class ships are slated for replacement by the 12 vessels under the joint Belgian-Dutch rMCM program (the first ship to be completed under the program is the Belgian Navy's Oostende, which Baird Maritime featured in a vessel review earlier this year).
The seven ships to be transferred all belong to the Tripartite-class of MCM vessels that first entered service in the 1980s. France was the only other initial operator of the Tripartite-class ships, examples of which were also later handed over to the navies of Indonesia, Pakistan, Latvia and Ukraine.
The MOD clarified that the transfer of the vessels to Bulgaria remains subject to conditions. In addition to being responsible for financing and maintenance of the ships, Bulgaria will also train Ukrainian Navy crews in their operation.
