The Royal Netherlands Navy's former submarine Walrus is being towed from Den Helder to Amsterdam, where it will be dismantled and recycled, the Dutch Ministry of Defence said on Monday, October 12.
The submarine is being carried on a floating pontoon accompanied by tugboats. The ministry said the vessel is scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam this week.
Once there, Walrus will be dismantled, scrapped and recycled, with some of its material melted down.
Walrus entered service in 1992 as the lead ship of four Rotterdam-built Walrus-class submarines. It completed 31 years of service before its formal withdrawal in October 2023, having already been laid up ashore before then. It has since been barred from carrying the Zr.Ms. prefix before its name.
The ministry said all usable installations and components were removed from the boat to help keep the navy's other submarines operational.
The three remaining Walrus-class boats in service are Zeeleeuw (S803), Dolfijn (S808) and Bruinvis (S810).
They are due to be replaced by four Orka-class submarines under construction by France's Naval Group. The ministry expects the first of these to be delivered in 2033 and the last in 2037. The boats will be named Orka, Zwaardvis, Barracuda and Tijgerhaai.
The ministry and Naval Group finalised the delivery contract for the four submarines in 2024.
