The Royal Netherlands Navy took delivery of a new mine countermeasures (MCM) vessel in a ceremony in Den Helder on Friday, February 27.
HNLMS Vlissingen is the second MCM vessel overall to be built under the Belgium-led replacement mine countermeasures (rMCM) program as well as the first in the class to be built for the Netherlands. Oostende, the first rMCM vessel, was handed over to the Belgian Navy in November 2025.
Twelve ships are being built by French naval shipbuilding joint venture Kership and the Belgium Naval and Robotics consortium under the rMCM program with the Belgian and Royal Netherlands Navies receiving six vessels each.
Kership is in charge of the production of the twelve platforms, which are assembled in Concarneau and Lanester. They will be then all armed afloat by Piriou in Concarneau.
French shipbuilder he Naval Group, as overall architect and prime contractor, is responsible for the design of the ships, the overall integration, and the testing and commissioning of the mission system, which includes the combat system and the mine countermeasures system.
Like her sisters, Vlissingen has an LOA of 82 metres, a displacement of approximately 2,800 tonnes, a maximum speed of 15.3 knots, and a range of over 3,500 nautical miles.
