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Preparations for the construction of the new Combat Support Ship (CSS) for the Royal Netherlands Navy are picking up speed. On 2 December, the first steel was cut at Damen’s yard in Galati, Romania, for the almost 180-metre long and 26.4-metre wide naval supply vessel designed by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding.
Damen Shipyards Galati Managing Director Flemming Sorensen, DSNS Site Manager Arjen Poortvliet
DSNS Project Director Arjan Risseeuw explains that the steel cutting was initially planned for 19 February 2021, exactly one year after the signing of the contract with the Dutch Ministry of Defence. “However, we were able to move the schedule forward,” he says. In fact, with the steel cutting done, work on production has now started, he says. “In early November, the DSNS Engineering Department handed over the first batch of production drawings to the shipyard in Galati, where the vessel will be built. The first cutting job of those drawings was used on December 2nd to kick off the steel cutting.”
Due to corona restrictions, that special moment was witness to a modest ceremony only, at which Arjen Poortvliet, the Project Manager Production on site, was present on behalf of DSNS. Project Director Arjan Risseeuw speaks of “a milestone” in the project, of which more will follow, such as in May 2021. This is when the keel of the CSS will be laid. “At that moment, the customer, Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) will be present with a delegation.”
In the meantime, a lot of other preparatory work has already been accomplished. Because the CSS is being built entirely in Galati, and it is a naval vessel, the Romanian yard had to be linked to DSNS’s own security-protected IT network. Damen Shipyards Galati was already connected to the Damen Group global network, but no information about the CSS is located on that network. This is also the reason that DSNS is the only Damen company that is not on that global network. Arjan: “DSNS’s isolated network has therefore been extended to the Galati yard in recent months.”
The CSS Den Helder must be delivered to the customer in 2024 and will be mission-ready one year after that
By bringing the steel cutting forward, DSNS creates, as it were, a ‘slow start’ of production activities. Arjan explains: “If we had started in February as planned and a problem had arisen – with the aforementioned ICT work, for example – this could have caused a major delay immediately. We have now brought a part of the production process forward, so that if something goes wrong, there is time and space to make adjustments. After all, the work has only just begun.”
The Den Helder must be delivered to the customer in 2024 and will be ready for deployment a year later. The CSS will expand the Replenishment at Sea (RAS) capacity and the Royal Netherlands Navy will once again have two supply ships.
In addition to resupplying the Dutch naval fleet, the CSS will also be able to supply allied vessels. This will include supplies of fuel and ammunition, as well as spare parts and other goods, such as provisions.