HNLMS Karel Doorman, the Royal Netherlands Navy’s multi-purpose amphibious ship, got underway from its Den Helder homeport on April 4 to join the NATO-led operation Sea Guardian.
Karel Doorman will spend the next nine weeks patrolling the Mediterranean Sea monitoring patterns-of-life to detect suspicious activities at sea.
In addition to maritime situational awareness, counter-terrorism operations are one of the main tasks of operation Sea Guardian. This is why the Dutch ship will be hosting Tunisian anti-terror personnel on board for joint exercises.
This will be Karel Doorman’s second deployment after undergoing extensive, year-long engine repairs which concluded in April last year. Prior to deploying to the Mediterranean, the ship supported hurricane relief efforts in the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma struck the Dutch overseas territory of Saint Maarten, destroying a third of buildings on the island.
Lees verder op navaltoday.com