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Three warships were engaged in training exercises off Guernsey this morning.
Two Dutch frigates and one from Belgium sailed from Plymouth on Tuesday evening and were visible off the island’s east and north coast.
Pictured: HNLMS Willem van der Zaan.
HNLMS De Ruyter (F804) and HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802) are De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën is the first ship of the De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command frigates and was commissioned on 26 April 2002.
Between March and July 2022, De Zeven Provinciën was part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, which provides the alliance with an immediate operational response capability.
On 21 March 2006, she picked up crew who had abandoned the container ship MV Hyundai Fortune after a major explosion and fire.
De Ruyter was commissioned in 2004 and on 12 January 2012 became the flagship for the same Nato group before becoming the flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 on 3 July 2018.
Pictured: HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën.
HNLMS Willem van der Zaan is a Karel Doorman-class frigate of the Marine Component of the Belgian Armed Forces that was commissioned in 2008, the second of two that were bought from the Royal Netherlands Navy.
It was originally commissioned in 1991 in the Netherlands, where it served as HNLMS Willem van der Zaan (F829).
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