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BeNeSam (''Belgisch-Nederlandse Samenwerking'', Belgium-Netherlands Cooperation Accord) is the name of the
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
-
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
naval cooperation.


History

The history of the 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 The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
and the
Belgian Navy 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 ...
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 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
activated
Allied Command Channel 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 Command was established in 1952 to defend the sea areas a ...
(ACCHAN) in 1953. One of three subordinate commands of ACCHAN was the Benelux Sub-Area Channel Command (BENECHAN) based in
Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...
and consisting of the Belgian and Dutch navies. Shortly after the end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
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. 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 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. The position of ABNL was created together with the combination of the Staffs o ...
headquartered in
Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...
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.


Current Belgian-Dutch naval cooperation

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 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 ...
in
Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
. This school is also a NATO ''Centre of Excellence''. The ''Mine Counter Measures Operational Sea Training'' takes place in
Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeeb ...
. 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 Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
. As far as technical naval trainings are still done separately the two navies have had a joint
curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
since 2010. The Belgian and Dutch M-frigates and
minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destroys individual naval mines. Minesweepers, on the other hand, clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of mines. A vessel that combines both of these roles is known as a ...
s 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.


Future

After a year of intense consultations the defence ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
signed the ''Benelux Declaration on Defence Cooperation'' on 18 April 2012. This declaration expands the 1987 Benelux agreement on cooperation and coordination in defence matters. The Belgian Defence minister
Pieter De Crem Pieter Frans Norbert Jozef Raymond De Crem (; born 22 July 1962) 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 fra ...
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." The Dutch Defence minister
Hans Hillen Johannes Stefanus Joseph "Hans" Hillen (born 17 June 1947) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and journalist. Biography Early life Hillen studied sociology at Utrecht University. He has been a (sports) j ...
declared that BeNeSam was an extraordinary base to build upon. He didn't reject the idea of mixed crews. Earlier during that week Hillen also said on Belgian radio that it is not impossible that the three armed forces could be integrated into "Benelux Armed Forces" one day.


References


External links


Belgian Navy

Royal Netherlands Navy


Sources




BeNeSam article 12-10-12
* ''BeNeSam 'Kroonjuweel' van internationale defensiesamenwerking'', Kees Homan. ''Marineblad'' 2012
Belgian Navy
{{in lang, nl Belgian Navy Royal Netherlands Navy Benelux