On the 2nd of June Damen Shipyards Galati has performed the keel-laying ceremony on the Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder. This marks an important milestone in the construction of this new supply ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The keel-laying ceremony was performed by the Director Defence Material Organisation (DMO), vice admiral Arie Jan de Waard, and vice-admiral Rob Kramer, Commander Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).
The yard carried out the steel cutting for this new vessel in December last year. Following the keel-laying, all the building blocks for the actual construction of the ship in Romania are now ready. The engineering of the CSS has been largely carried out in the Netherlands.
Damen Naval division director Hein van Ameijden emphasizes that it is mainly the cooperation with companies from the existing naval construction chain that makes the innovative construction of Dutch naval ships possible: “More than a year after signing the contract for this ship, Damen Naval has concluded 116 purchase contracts, of which 82 are with Dutch suppliers. These are with companies coming mostly from the Rijnmond and Zeeland areas. It is this entire chain of companies that contributes to the construction of this new ship for the RNLN
