The Ukrainian Navy has taken delivery of the former Royal Netherlands Navy minehunter HNLMS Makkum, which has entered Ukrainian service as Henichesk.
Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa announced the transfer on June 15 following a ceremony during which the Ukrainian naval ensign was raised aboard the vessel. Senior naval representatives from the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia attended the event. The location and exact date of the ceremony were not disclosed.
The transfer was conducted under the Maritime Capability Coalition, which coordinates support for the development of Ukraine’s naval forces. Henichesk is the fifth Western-built mine countermeasures vessel transferred to Ukraine. The United Kingdom previously provided the Sandown-class minehunters Chernihiv and Cherkasy, while Belgium and the Netherlands transferred the Tripartite/Alkmaar-class vessels Mariupol and Melitopol.
The ship is named after the Ukrainian roadstead minesweeper Henichesk, which was lost during an operation near the Kinburn Spit in June 2022. The name also refers to the occupied city of Henichesk in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
The Netherlands had confirmed in April that Makkum would be handed over in June after completion of crew training. Ukrainian personnel trained aboard the vessel in Vlissingen, including in the operation of underwater systems used to detect, classify and neutralise naval mines.
Makkum was decommissioned by the Royal Netherlands Navy on November 25, 2024, after approximately four decades of service. The Netherlands is donating both Makkum and the former HNLMS Vlaardingen to Ukraine as it replaces the Alkmaar class with new Vlissingen-class mine countermeasures vessels.
The Alkmaar class, internationally known as the Tripartite class, was developed jointly by Belgium, France and the Netherlands. The vessels displace approximately 543 tonnes, measure 51.5 metres in length and have a maximum speed of around 13 knots. Crew size varies between 28 and 38 personnel.
The Dutch vessels were modernised with the Atlas Elektronik Integrated Mine Countermeasures System and the Thales 2022 Mk III hull-mounted sonar. Their mine warfare equipment includes SeaFox mine identification and disposal vehicles and the Saab Double Eagle self-propelled variable-depth sonar system. Mine clearance divers can also be deployed for identification and disposal tasks.
Ukraine’s transferred minehunters remain based in the United Kingdom. Their movement into the Black Sea is restricted while Türkiye applies the wartime provisions of the Montreux Convention, which limit the passage of warships belonging to belligerent states through the Turkish Straits. As a result, the transfer does not provide Ukraine with an immediate additional minehunting platform inside the Black Sea. It does, however, allow the Ukrainian Navy to train crews, establish maintenance arrangements and develop procedures with NATO navies before the vessels can eventually deploy to Ukrainian waters.
According to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Henichesk is expected to participate in Exercise Sea Breeze in 2027. The ships are intended to support post-war clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance in Ukrainian territorial waters and the approaches to the country’s ports, where contamination will remain a threat to navigation and commercial shipping.
