At the request of Belgium Naval & Robotics, a Naval Group-Exail consortium, the delivery schedule of the first four of the twelve ships acquired in 2019 has been updated. The lead ship, BNS Oostende (M940), was originally expected on December 23, 2024. The Belgian Navy will have to wait eight more months.
The Dutch Navy’s first ship, the BNS Vlissingen (M840), was to be delivered in June 2025. Dutch sailors will to wait five to six more months. The BNS Tournai (M941) and BNS Scheveningen (M841) will arrive respectively one and two months late. The situation should return to normal from the fifth ship, the BNS Brugge (M942) which is to be handed over to the Belgian Navy on December 2026.
The rMCM program passed the critical design review (CDR) at the end of 2022, thus completing the overall design of the solution, the Belgian MoD stressed. Are the causes of these delays both in the construction of ships and in their toolboxes ? According to the MoD, « the cumulative effects of several recent “unforeseen events” ». The COVID-19 pandemic, first, which which notably led many companies, including Naval Group, to temporarily close and then adapt their means of production.
The war in Ukraine brought its share of additional difficulties, for example in the supply of specific metals (which was initially set to come from Azovstal Iron and Steel Works located in Mariupol, Ukraine) and the rise in energy prices. And those issues come on top of the long-known labor shortage.
Impact of this delay on the Belgian-Dutch navies mine countermeasures capabilities « is limited » and « can be further mitigated by a limited delay in the decommissioning of the vessels currently in service », the Belgian MoD added.
The rMCM new delivery schedule :
