Dutch Navy To Modernize And Refurbish Four Frigates

The Royal Netherlands Navy has awarded Scheldepoort Repair & Conversion Yard a contract to modernize and upgrade the propeller shaft lines and generator sets of four Air Defenxe and Command Frigates. Peter Sterkenburg, Sales Manager at Scheldepoort, said, “After an extensive negotiation period, we are very proud to have been selected for this technically challenging and complex project”. “Modifying the Controllable Pitch Propeller system will make the vessels much more fuel efficient, quieter and more environmentally friendly – crucial in today’s environment. At the same time the frigates will be more powerful and the systems smaller and lighter,” he added. The first of the vessels, ‘HR. MS. De Zeven Provinciën’, is expected to arrive at the yard on August 13 and the second in early 2013, with the last two arriving in 2014. Each vessel is expected to take 70 to 80 days to complete and Scheldepoort has a dedicated team working on the naval contract.