The Greek Navy will not only hold talks with the Netherlands about the sale of frigates, the sale of mine hunters is also a topic of discussion. This was reported by the Greek media.
Mrs. Makkum, one of the five active mine researchers of the Alkmaar category. (Photo: SGTBDAV Jasper Verolme/Defence)
Given the aging fleet and recent tensions between Greece and Turkey, Greece wants to quickly acquire new naval vessels. Most surprising was the replacement program for the old S frigates. In the past year, developments have followed each other in quick succession, plus the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Korea have also submitted proposals.
At the same time, the Greek Navy also needs a mine countermeasures capability. Especially after a Greek mine researcher, HS Kallisto, sailed in half by a merchant ship in 2020. The daily newspaper Kathimerini Recently he was the first to report that a Greek delegation would travel to Holland to talk about Lakmar-class frigates and fishermen.
The sale of the two existing M frigates, Zr.Ms. Van Amstel and Zr.Ms. Van Speijk, discussed. The M frigates were part of a Dutch offer as a temporary short-term solution, a request from the Greeks. Damen offers Sigma 11515 HN for the long haul. Regarding a possible sale of frigates, the defense initially answered questions from MarineShips.nl that the M frigates were “not actively demonstrated”, but Damen reported the planned decommissioning.
It was not known that selling lakhmar miners was also a possibility. This option may have gained traction because the Navy decided to put a mine hunter against the side due to a lack of personnel. The Lady Urk has not sailed since December and will be decommissioned this year.
Greece works mainly with old British miner hunters and it is unlikely to buy a new type, the kemar-class miner. However, from 2025 the Minesdienst will receive new miner hunters, so talking about the sale of several miner hunters next to Urk is not out of the question.
It is not known if Greece wants to replenish the mine service fleet in two steps, just as with frigates. If this were the case, the Dutch range could be expanded with the existing Alkmaar class miners and the MCA concept developed by Damen for Belgium and the Netherlands at a later time. However, France has a strong trump card in this regard: after all, the concept of mine countermeasures was sold to Holland and Belgium, and therefore it is more than just a concept.
Kathimerini described the Dutch talks as “interesting” and wrote: “The volume of conversations with the Dutch indicates that they, like the French, are an important potential supplier.” France, in particular, has struggled at all levels in recent months to secure the Greece deal and appears to be among the main contenders.
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