[News] The Netherlands will deploy a logistics ship to the Red Sea in support of Operation Aspides
(B2) The amphibious ship Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman will participate in the European operation Aspides in the Red Sea to protect the merchant marine in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.
For Aspides as Prosperity Guardian
Early May to mid August
Logistics support ship, Zr.Ms.Karel Doorman (A-833) will be deployed from early May to mid-August. It will supply fuel and various supplies to the ships of the European operation EUNAVFOR Aspides. It will be equipped with a Role 2 medical center capable of providing emergency medical care and surgical interventions. The ship has a Cougar transport helicopter for this type of medical evacuation.
Support for Prosperity Guardian
Units participating in the operation Prosperity Guardian led by the United States will also be able to call on it. It is " a further contribution to the international legal order and the protection of maritime transport on this important trade route » highlighted the Minister of Defense, Kajsa Ollongren.
Outside of risk areas unless...
The logistics support vessel will operate “ outside high risk areas » says the Dutch side. If it is nevertheless necessary to navigate in this area, it will benefit " guidance and protection of other warships ". This is the second ship engaged by the Dutch navy in the Red Sea since the start of Houthi hostilities
A logistics ship
Survivor of budget cuts
Built at the Dutch shipyard Damen in Vlissingen (Netherlands) and in Romania, the Karel Doorman almost never entered service. Victim of the severe budget cuts decided in the defense budget by the government of Mark Rutte II in 2013 (read: The Dutch navy sells one of its flagships). Cuts which will ultimately be canceled. The same government backtracks after Russia's intervention in Crimea and the NATO Wales summit in September 2014. The Alliance countries then commit to reversing course and not making any more reductions of defense spending. It was finally commissioned in April 2015.
A ship exploitable by Germany
It is one of the first European ships to have been the subject of joint use between two States. In 2016, the two Defense Ministers, the Dutch Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the German Ursula von der Leyen, signed a letter of intent allowing its use by Germany (read: Ursula and Jeanine on a boat).
Multi uses
This ship can be used for multiple purposes, a bit like the French amphibious helicopter carriers or BPCs. It thus has a hold of 8000 m3 of fuel (and aviation fuel), a possible reserve of 450 m3 of drinking water and can accommodate 400 tonnes of food and various equipment, including ammunition. Equipped with a raft, this allows the ship's landing craft (two LCVP landing craft) to depart.
Deployed in humanitarian missions
It has been deployed on several occasions as part of relief or medical assistance missions: in West Africa (Sierra Leone, Guinea) in 2014 during the Ebola epidemic (read: The Karel Doorman sent against Ebola), in the Antilles after Hurricane Irma in 2017 and again in the Caribbean in 2020 to compensate for the Covid-19 epidemic and hurricanes (read: France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom coordinate in the Caribbean). This is his first deployment to a zone of armed tension.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
A frigate already engaged in the area
On March 27, the Netherlands deployed a ship, the air defense and command frigate Zr.Ms. Tromp (F-803) which participates in the operation Prosperity Guardian carried out under American direction. It can also provide support to the European operation Aspides, if necessary.
His mission is about to end. This deployment is temporary – for 25 days – and rather unexpected. The ship heading east actually adjusted “ his initial plan » to participate in operations in the Red Sea.
Le HNLMS Trump then continues his journey to the Indo-Pacific, where he will participate in “ various exercises and operations with allies and partners ". The Netherlands is committed to having a ship present in the Indo-Pacific zone once every two years, in coordination with other countries (mainly France and Germany).
