The Combat Support Ship project achieved two major ILS milestones in May and June. The first milestone was the first delivery of the LSARs, or Logistic Support Analysis Records. These describe how maintenance and spare parts can be categorised so that spare parts can be procured on time. In June, the draft technical manuals for the entire ship were delivered. There has also been significant progress made with factory training for the crew.

Now that the Den Helder is at the yard’s finishing quay in Galați, Romania, commissioning continues even though the increased amount of cables to be placed on board creates additional challenges, says Project Director Arjan Risseeuw. “It’s not just about the extra cable length, but more cable pieces have to be placed. More cable pieces also means more connections and those connections are essential for commissioning the various systems.”

Arjan Risseeuw (right) recently travelled to Galați with Joost Meesters, COMMIT’s new Project Leader, to visit the CSS Den Helder. Arjan Risseeuw (right) recently travelled to Galați with Joost Meesters, COMMIT’s new Project Leader, to visit the CSS Den Helder.

Meanwhile, other work continues at a steady pace. The Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT) has submitted a request for additional work regarding the preparations for the weapon systems. “Those weapon systems will be installed by COMMIT itself, but there are different degrees of support we can offer,” Arjan explains. “For example, the lowest category is that we only create space for the systems. A step higher is ensuring enough power in the diesel-electric engines and sufficient cooling. Another step higher means that we also pull the cables, and the highest step is that we also provide the connections and build the foundations for the weapon systems. The additional work takes us towards that highest category for a number of systems.”

If all goes to plan, the CSS will carry out sea trials in early 2024 and the ship will be handed over to COMMIT in mid-2024.

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