Bulgarian ex-Dutch minehunters to be repaired in 2021
Reponses to tender are due by 11 January
Two of the three Tripartite-class minehunters in service with the Bulgarian Navy are to undergo dock repairs.
Interested parties have until 11 January to respond to an EU-wide tender worth BGN666,666 ($414,000), issued by the Bulgarian MoD. The successful bidder will have 150 days to complete the work.
The vessels to be repaired and modernised (Mesta and Struma) were formerly in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy as Maassluis and Hellevoetsluis respectively, until they were transferred to Bulgaria, where the navy inducted them on 14 October 2020.
The cost of acquiring the vessels was only BGN4.69 million but another BGN3.92 million was spent on the reactivation and delivery of the vessels to Bulgaria.
Shephard Defence Insight notes that a further BGN2.94 million will be spent on retrofitting the ships.
The Bulgarian Navy operates one other Tripartite-class vessel (Tsibar, pictured) that was acquired from Belgium in 2007.
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