Engie solutions press release
Designed by Naval Group, these next-generation ships, which can withstand navigation in extreme cold or extreme heat conditions, will be built as part of a fleet renewal program managed by Belgium for both countries. The ships will supersede the current minesweepers dating from the 1980s.
The HVAC system to be installed by ENGIE Solutions will include a chilled water production
unit and an NBC production system (pressurization of the ship with Nuclear, Biological and
Chemical filtration), to ensure safe air quality for the crew during their missions to detect,
classify and neutralize mines at sea.
The ships will be assembled and fitted out in Brittany at the Concarneau and Lorient Kership
(a subsidiary of Naval Group) yards.
After the design studies, currently underway, the first technical equipment will be ready in 2021.
The aim is to deliver the first boat in 2024, then a boat every six months until 2029.
ENGIE Solutions has around 35 years of expertise in HVAC engineering and refrigeration for the shipbuilding industry, with over 120 boats in its portfolio. In Brittany, ENGIE Solutions provides the shipbuilding industry with its expertise in studies, its pre-manufacturing and assembly workshop and its dedicated 30-person ship commissioning and maintenance team.
Julia Maris, Defence and National Security Director at ENGIE Solutions: “We are proud to be working with Kership to build these 12 next-generation minesweeper ships for the Belgian and Dutch Navies. With 35 years of expertise in HVAC engineering and refrigeration for the shipbuilding industry, ENGIE Solutions is a strong partner to fit out this fleet.”
The contract for twelve MCMV for the Belgian and Royal Dutch navies has been notified in May 2019 and will span over more than ten years. After a design period of two years, Belgium Naval & Robotics (Naval Group / ECA Group consortium) will lead the production phase, which will be executed by Kership.
Six ships will be delivered to the Belgian navy and six to the Royal Dutch navy with a first delivery scheduled for September 2024. They will be equipped with a complete drone module containing a total of more than eighty underwater, surface and aerial drones entirely dedicated to mine hunting.
Last May, BNR has successfully passed the « systems functional review » and now the consortium is preparing the “Preliminary Design Review” for the end of 2021.
