''Imanta'' (M-04) is the lead ship of the of

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 for the Latvian Naval Forces. The vessel was formerly HNLMS ''Harlingen'' (M854), a Tripartite-class minehunter of 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 ...

built in 1984. ''Alkmaar'' and ''Imanta'' are, respectively, the Dutch and Latvian navies' names of the Tripartite class of minehunters, developed jointly by France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. ''Harlingen'' was one of five minehunters sold to Latvia by the Netherlands in 2005 for approximately €11.4 million each. An investigation into possible corruption related to the vessels' acquisition was revealed in August 2009, when it was announced that the vessels were purchased without any instruction manuals or technical documents. It took Latvian officials over a year to acquire the necessary technical materials from France, at the cost of an additional €580,000. Since 2009 ''Imanta'' has been active service with the Latvian Naval Forces and available for

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 ...

operations.

References

Alkmaar-class minehunters Ships built in Belgium Ships built in France Ships built in the Netherlands 1984 ships Imanta-class minehunters Minehunters of Latvia {{Netherlands-mil-ship-stub