Upgrades to Holland-class OPVs pushed back a year
HNLMS Holland, the first of four OPVs built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding at its yard in Vlissingen under a €467.8 million contract awarded in 2007. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
The Royal Netherlands Navy’s (RNLN’s) four Holland-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) will begin a mid-life upgrade (MLU) programme in 2025, a year later than planned.
The Defence Project Overview 2023 published by the Netherlands MoD on 19 September stated that an MLU would be carried out during the planned major maintenance periods for the Holland-class ships, the first of which now starts in 2025 instead of 2024.
It means the period for the completion of the MLU on all four ships has been cut short by a year to run from 2025–34, but will still be completed across the two major docking cycles planned for the OPVs. The MLU budget has been slated at €50–250 million.
The second major planned period for the OPVs has been scheduled for
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