The Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (The Seven Provinces) left her homeport Willemstad, the Netherlands, for the Caribbean Sea.
The first ship of the De Zeven Provincien class will be used as a station ship in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea.
A Belgian Navy Alouette III helicopter, along with its support team, embarked on the Seven Provinces to support tasks such as counter-narcotics operations, search and rescue missions and natural disaster response.
During the sail to Aruba, the frigate’s crew already noticed a vessel with propulsion problems. The crew towed the barge to the port city Barcadera, Aruba, which is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
Along the way the frigate also simulated numerous emergency exercises to intervene as soon as possible in an emergency. A helicopter on the ship’s flight deck is of great importance during these exercises. This joint deployment of Belgian and the Netherlands navies helps them enhance their cooperation.
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Naval Today Staff