Soemba in drydock
Class overview
Name	Soemba class
Builders	Vervaco, Heusden
Operators	Royal Netherlands Army  Royal Netherlands Navy
In commission	1989–present
Planned	1
Completed	1
Active	1
History
Netherlands
Commissioned	3 November 1989[1][2]
Decommissioned	6 June 2009[1][2]
Identification	Hull number: A850
Fate	Transferred to the Navy
Netherlands
Name	Soemba
Namesake	Sumba
Commissioned	6 June 2009[1][2]
Homeport	Nieuwe Haven Naval Base, Den Helder
Identification	Hull number: A850 IMO number: 8388603 MMSI number: 244650033 Callsign: PH3567
Badge
General characteristics
Type	Diving support vessel
Displacement	410 t (404 long tons)[1]
Length	42 m (137 ft 10 in)[1]
Beam	9.50 m (31 ft 2 in)[1]
Height	13.50 m (44 ft 3 in)[1]
Draft	1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)[1]
Propulsion	2 × DAF 1160 DKV[1]
Speed	8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph)[1]
Capacity	17 passengers[1]
Crew	4[1]

HNLMS Soemba is a diving support and training vessel in service with the Dutch Navy. The vessel was constructed by Vervaco, Heusden for the Dutch Army as a training vessel for their divers. The current Soemba is the second vessel in the Dutch Navy with this name, following HNLMS Soemba which was scrapped on 12 July 1985.

Construction and career

Soemba was originally built for the Dutch Army as a training vessel but was transferred to the Dutch Navy in 2009 when their diving schools merged.^[2]

Soemba is set to be replaced alongside the Mercuur, Pelikaan, Snellius class, Cerberus class and the Van Kinsbergen by a common family of ships. The builder of the new ships will be selected in 2024.^[3][4][5]

• See Auxiliary ship replacement program for more information.