Patrol Vessel Royal Netherlands Navy HMS Holland Named "Ship of the Year"

HMS Holland, first of a new class of Royal Netherlands Navy patrol vessels of the same name, has been named “Ship of the Year”. The prestigious prize has been awarded to the innovative ship, which was designed and mostly built in the Netherlands, during the annual Maritime Awards Gala in Rotterdam on 8 November 2012. 

HMS Holland was competing against ten other ships for the award, with the decision ultimately coming down to HMS Holland and two other vessels: Damen’s own HSSV 2610 Twin Axe Marineco Shamal, and IHC Merwede’s cutter suction dredger Athena. The Navy vessel ultimately won largely due to the groundbreaking maritime concept underlying the design. Amongst other things, the concept makes it possible to operate the vessel with a crew of only 50.

Reduced workload

Operation with a small crew is possible partly thanks to the integrated mast, which incorporates sensor, communication and radar systems, and the revolutionary layout of the command bridge. This is located behind the navigation bridge and is the first command bridge to have windows. Another innovation is the one-man bridge concept. Although modern electronics and an efficient layout reduce the crew’s workload, the crew now have to perform auxiliary tasks more often than was previously the case. 

Unique cooperation

HMS Holland is the result of a unique cooperation between the government, industry, suppliers and knowledge institutions within the Netherlands Maritime Cluster. Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding and the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation decided to nominate HMS Holland for Ship of the Year because of its high score in the areas of innovativeness, safety, economics and the environment.

Efficient

The security situation on the world’s oceans has made it necessary to protect merchant vessels with increasing frequency. The design of HMS Holland, lightly armed but still awe-inspiring, is excellently suited for such duty. As a result, foreign governments are also interested in the vessel. In addition to a small and efficient crew, the vessel is equipped with an on-board helicopter and two fast motor boats. This means that HMS Holland needs only two diesel and two electrical motors, making it inexpensive to run and environmentally friendly. This is also true of the bioreactor, which purifies waste water so it can be released right into the sea. HMS Holland is the first of a series of four patrol vessels that will be used to replace the multipurpose frigates that have already been decommissioned and sold.

Royal Netherlands Navy tests NH90 helicopter and Holland class OPV in bad weather

Royal Netherlands Navy crews of the NH90 helicopter and HNLMS Holland Offshore Patrol Vessel conducted deck landings with winds up to Force 8 and waves up to 4 meters high last week in the North Sea.

The tests are being conducted to determine the maximum wind limit for operating the NH90 from the Holland-class OPV.

These are needed to know how far you can go during operations in bad weather said Lieutenant Commander Chris van den Berg,

                         

Royal Netherlands Navy crews of the NH90 helicopter and HNLMS Holland Offshore Patrol Vessel conducted deck landings with winds up to Force 8 and waves up to 4 meters high last week in the North Sea.

The NH90 helicopter is firmly secured on HNLMS Holland Offshore Patrol Vessel

                         

Maximum concentration

"Each class of ships are tested and analyzed. For example, you have to deal with wind turbulence," says the ship’s commander. “And, compared to the larger vessels like air defense and command frigates, and the amphibious transport ship, the Holland-class is more susceptible to waves."

A test team from the Air Force was collecting all data for analysis. In addition, for the first time a ship controlled the helicopter’s approach. In such a case, the air controller aboard the ship uses the radar images of the NH90 to guide the helicopter when its crew has poor or no visibility.

Flying independently

Night approaches and landings were carried out autonomously by the helicopter crew using night vision googles. “Whereas last week we waved off a Lynx because it had too much cockpit lighting and was not suitable to fly with this night vision equipment, its successor will be able to operate with it. This makes faster approaches possible. You can easily fly out and land independently." Test Pilot Lieutenant First Class Job Sicking reported.

"The NH90 weighs 11 tonnes, which is 6 tonnes more than the Lynx, where a knock on the stick often enough." This is the final week of sea trials aboard the Holland-class ships. While training is slightly behind schedule pending the delivery of more NH90s, the test schedule is on track. "Only deck landings on the M-frigates and additional testing, such as hot weather conditions testing remain to be done."

Shipborne Helicopters

Earlier this year, the Royal Dutch Airforce and Navy conducted deck landings with an Apache attack helicopter on the amphibious Landing Platform Dock (LPD) HNLMS Rotterdam. Cougar transport helicopters are currently deployed on the vessel deployed on mission against piracy off the coast of Somalia.