''Bellis'' (M916) is a of the

Belgian Naval Component The Belgian Navy, officially the Belgian Naval Component ( nl, Marinecomponent; french: Composante marine; german: Marinekomponente ) of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium. History Early history The Belgian Navy w ...

, launched on 14 February 1986 at the Mercantile-Belyard shipyard in

Rupelmonde Rupelmonde is a village in the municipality of Kruibeke, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It stands on the bank of the river Schelde opposite the confluence of the eponymous Rupel, and is famed for its sundials as well as having what is ...

and christened by Ellen Goffinet-Rosman, the wife of the then Mayor of Arlon, on 18 September 1986. The patronage of ''Bellis'' was accepted by the city of Arlon. It was the second of the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunters. Commissioned on 13 August 1986, the ship participated the rescue of the survivors of ferry in March 1987 which had capsized outside the port of Zeebrugge. ''Bellis'' was attached to NATO's Mine Countermeasure Force (North) (MCMFORNORTH) in 1987, 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004, and to Mine Countermeasures Force (South) (MCMFORSOUTH) in 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2003.

Pictures

File:BNS_Bellis.jpg, BNS ''Bellis'' entering Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, 9 July 2010.

References

Tripartite-class minehunters of the Belgian Navy Ships built in Belgium Ships built in France Ships built in the Netherlands 1986 ships Minehunters of Belgium {{Europe-mil-ship-stub