The Royal Netherlands Navy will donate two officially decommissioned Alkmaar-class minehunters to the Ukrainian Navy. It is unknown how the donated minehunters will reach the Black Sea.
The Royal Netherlands Navy has retired two minehunter vessels, HNLMS Makkum (M857) and HNLMS Vlaardingen (M863), with the intention of donating them to the Ukrainian Navy. The two anti-mine vessels will undergo technical maintenance and repairs before being handed to Ukraine. Ukraine will receive the ships once the crew training is completed.
Training began in the second half of 2023, and the ship is slated to be delivered in 2025. According to the Dutch Ministry of Defence, it will retire after nearly 40 years of service.
The decommissioning of Makkum and Vlaardingen is in line with the Royal Netherlands Navy's modernisation program, which seeks to replace them with six upgraded Vlissingen-class mine-defence vessels.
On the other hand, it is unknown how the vessels will be delivered to the Ukrainian Navy. Turkiye has closed the Turkish Straits to Russian and Ukrainian vessels. The Royal Navy has donated two minehunters, but they also waitiing for the end of the war.
