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BeNeSam (Belgisch-Nederlandse Samenwerking, Belgium-Netherlands Cooperation Accord) is the name of the Belgian-Dutch naval cooperation.
The history of Belgian-Dutch naval cooperation goes back to 1948, when the idea of a joint staff occurred. In a secret military treaty both countries agreed to submit the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Belgian Navy to the command of a single officer in wartime because both navies would operate in the same sea area. This agreement was formalized when NATO activated Allied Command Channel (ACCHAN) in 1953. One of three subordinate commands of ACCHAN was the Benelux Sub-Area Channel Command (BENECHAN) based in Den Helder and consisting of the Belgian and Dutch navies.
Shortly after the end of the Cold War Belgium and the Netherlands signed an agreement settling the cooperation between the Belgian and Dutch navies in 1995, as well in peacetime as in wartime. [1] As a result of this agreement the operational staffs of both navies were integrated in a joint staff under the command of the Admiral Benelux headquartered in Den Helder from 1 January 1996 on. It led to a unique form of cooperation of both navies in operational matters, training, logistics and maintenance. Both countries remain fully sovereign concerning the deployment of their forces.
Next to the "Benelux Admiralty" the BeNeSam agreements also involve other forms of cooperation. The minehunters and frigates have been operating jointly for a number of years and a Belgian helicopter is regularly aboard a Dutch frigate. Joint training has taken place since 1975 at the binational school for mine counter measures Eguermin in Ostend. This school is also a NATO Centre of Excellence. The Mine Counter Measures Operational Sea Training takes place in Zeebrugge. There, ships are assessed if they are ready to enter operational service. Furthermore, operators and liaison staff of both navies have been jointly trained at the Belgian-Dutch Operational School since 1996. Naval cooks and waiters of both navies are trained in Bruges. As far as technical naval trainings are still done separately the two navies have had a joint curriculum since 2010.
The Belgian and Dutch M-frigates and minehunters are operationally led by the binational naval headquarter in Den Helder. Belgium is in charge of the training of the crews of vessels specialised in mine warfare and responsible for the logistics and maintenance of these vessels. The Netherlands perform these tasks for the M-frigates.
After a year of intense consultations, the defence ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the Benelux Declaration on Defence Cooperation on 18 April 2012. [2] This declaration expands the 1987 Benelux agreement on cooperation and coordination in defence matters. The Belgian Defence minister Pieter De Crem said at that ceremony that "we are en route to a totally new structure with a trinational command. This is a first step to a full integration of assets and joint operability." Dutch Defence Minister Hans Hillen declared that BeNeSam was an extraordinary base to build upon. He didn't reject the idea of mixed crews. Earlier that week, Hillen had also said on Belgian radio that it is not impossible that the three armed forces could be integrated into "Benelux Armed Forces" one day.
The German Navy is part of the unified Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the Bundesmarine from 1956 to 1995, when Deutsche Marine became the official name with respect to the 1990 incorporation of the East German Volksmarine. It is deeply integrated into the NATO alliance. Its primary mission is protection of Germany's territorial waters and maritime infrastructure as well as sea lines of communication. Apart from this, the German Navy participates in peacekeeping operations, and renders humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. It also participates in anti-piracy operations.
The Netherlands armed forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The armed forces consist of four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organizations. In addition, local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao. These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are part of the Ministry of Defence.
The Belgian Armed Forces is the national military of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became independent in October 1830. Since then, the Belgian armed forces have fought in World War I, World War II, the Cold War, Kosovo, Rwanda, Somalia and Afghanistan. The Armed Forces comprise five branches: the Land Component, the Air Component, the Naval Component, the Medical Component and the Cyber Component.
The Royal Netherlands Navy is the maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was founded on 8 January 1488, making it the third-oldest naval force in the world.
The Royal Danish Navy is the sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters. Other tasks include surveillance, search and rescue, icebreaking, oil spill recovery and prevention as well as contributions to international tasks and forces.
The Karel Doorman-class frigates are a series of eight multi-purpose vessels built for the Royal Netherlands Navy. Its namesake is Karel Doorman, a Dutch naval officer whose ship was struck by a Japanese torpedo in the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942, and went down with his ship as a result.
The Belgian Navy, officially the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium.
The Estonian Navy are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces.
The Tripartite class is a class of minehunters developed from an agreement between the navies of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. A total of 35 ships were constructed for the three navies. The class was constructed in the 1980s–1990s in all three countries, using a mix of minehunting, electrical and propulsion systems from the three member nations. In France, where they are known as the Éridan class they are primarily used as minehunters, but have been used for minesweeping and ammunition transport in Belgium and the Netherlands, where the Tripartites are known as the Alkmaar class.
Pieter Frans Norbert Jozef Raymond De Crem is a Belgian politician and member of Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V). He has been a Member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives since 1995. He headed the CD&V fraction in the Chamber of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. Since 1995, he has been the mayor of Aalter in East Flanders.
The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy (CZsk) is the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The CZsk reports directly to the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff.
The Admiral Benelux (ABNL) is the Commanding Officer of the combined military staff of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces.
Vice admiral Matthieu Borsboom is a retired Royal Netherlands Navy officer whos served as the 3rd Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Admiral Benelux, and has served with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
EGUERMIN is the Belgian-Netherlands Naval Mine Warfare school. This academic establishment provides training and education to Belgian and Netherlands Navy crewmembers in charge of minehunting, as well as to Naval Mine Warfare officers from NATO and PfP countries.
Allied Command Channel (ACCHAN) was one of three major North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commands from 1952 to 1994. Commander-in-Chief Channel was a Major NATO Commander (MNC).
The Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate (ASWF) is a project of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Belgian Navy to replace the existing Multipurpose- or M-frigates. The project shows similarities to the British Global Combat Ship but development is fully separate.
Wim Robberecht is a Belgian naval officer who holds the rank of divisional admiral and since 2016 has served as the commander of the Belgian Navy.
This article represents the structure of the Belgian Armed Forces as of May 2020:
In April 2018, the Dutch Government approved a multi-year investment program for the Royal Netherlands Navy and allocated funds for the 2018–2030 period. The Dutch Defence Materiel Administration (DMO) is in charge of the procurement of these new ships.
The Netherlands and Belgium are doing a joint procurement for the replacements of the Tripartite-class/Alkmaar-class minehunters. Each of the two countries is procuring six new mine countermeasure (MCM) vessels, which makes for a total of 12 MCM ships. The new MCM ships, developed by Naval Group, will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization remotely operated vehicles.