Damen Naval has contracted Alfa Laval Benelux to deliver Fuel Oil Separators, cleaning tables, the Oily Bilge Water Separators and ILS deliverables for the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Frigates for the Royal Netherlands Navy and Belgian Navy. In June 2023, Damen Naval was awarded the contract to design and build four ASW frigates, two for The Netherlands and two for Belgium. In September, the Dutch government announced plans to increase the national Defence budget, and the Dutch Ministry of Defence presented the Defence Whitepaper 2024 revealing plans to order additional frigates. The ASW frigates will replace the current Karel Doorman Class multipurpose frigates. While they can be deployed for multiple tasks, the emphasis will be on anti-submarine warfare.
“We are excited and looking forward starting this project with strict demands in shock and noise levels with Damen Naval and extend our successful corporation,” says Head of Marine Division Benelux David van Luijtelaar. “Thanks to our extensive experience with defence and security projects, we are well-prepared, and several parts of our organisation will contribute to this project.”
“We are delighted to welcome another Dutch partner on this prestigious project,” said Damen Naval Director of Corporate Strategy & Innovation Richard Keulen. “This project is unique because we are building identical frigates for two different NATO partners. Projects such as these are crucial for the Dutch naval shipbuilding industry, and we want to make sure to involve as many Dutch suppliers as possible.”
Alfa Laval Benelux will supply the frigates with skid-built Fuel Oil Separators suitable for different fuel types. A cleaning table shall be provided for cleaning of the Fuel Oil Separator parts. The Oily Bilge Water Separator (PureBilge) is a fully automated centrifugal separation system that cleans oily water effectively at sea. The Oily Bilge Water Separator unit shall be skid built, complete with interconnecting pipes and electrical cabling. In addition to the ASWF project, Damen Naval and Alfa Laval are also collaborating on the Combat Support Ship being built for the Royal Netherlands Navy and the F126 frigates that Damen Naval is designing and building for the German Navy.
Damen Naval is a Dutch shipyard, and a continuation of the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, responsible for a number of ships used by the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is owned by the Damen Group. Damen Naval is situated in Vlissingen. The company was founded on 8 October 1875 as the NV Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde (KMS) after shipbuilder Arie Smit had taken over the Marine Etablissement, the wharf owned by the Dutch navy. In 1965 the company merged with the NV Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (RDM) and the NV Motorenfabriek Thomassen of De Steeg, which resulted in the founding, on 4 March 1966, of the Rijn-Schelde Machinefabrieken en Scheepswerven NV (RSMS). In 2000 the government and the province sold their shares to the Damen Group of Gorinchem, and KSG became the company’s branch charged with building larger ships for naval and coastguard duty.
