Noordzee and Waddenzee towing HNLMS Rotterdam (centre) in 2016
Class overview
Name	Noordzee class
Builders	Damen Group
Operators	Royal Netherlands Navy
Preceded by	Linge class
Built	1986–1997
In commission	1987–present
Planned	3
Completed	3
Active	3
General characteristics
Type	Coastal tugboat
Displacement	575 tons
Length	28.67 m (94 ft 1 in)
Beam	10.43 m (34 ft 3 in)
Draught	4.9 m (16 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric engines
Speed	13.4 knots (24.8 km/h; 15.4 mph) (maximum)
Complement	5

The Noordzee class are a class of tugboats used by the Royal Netherlands Navy to dock their larger ships at the Nieuwe Haven Naval Base.^[1]

History

In January 2014 it was announced that the older Linge-class tugboats were not capable enough anymore to handle the newer larger vessels like HNLMS Karel Doorman and the four oldest ships would be replaced by three Damen build hybrid tugboats. These would become the Noordzee class.^[1][2]

With the arrival of the first new tugboat, HNLMS Noordzee, the older tugboats did not prove completely useless when the power onboard Noordzee shut off due to contaminated fuel along the coast of North-Holland and HNLMS Hunze had to assist.^[3] As an avocation to their main purpose they are used for trips with guests around the harbour.

Ships in class

Hull number	Name	Builder	Launched	Commissioned	Status	Picture	Notes
A871	HNLMS Noordzee	Damen Group, Galati		11 July 2016	In active service		[4]
A872	HNLMS Waddenzee			11 July 2016	In active service		[4]
A873	HNLMS Zuiderzee			11 July 2016	In active service		[4]

Namesakes

All the ships are named after seas with current or former Dutch shores:

• HNLMS Noordzee's namesake is the North Sea.
• HNLMS Waddenzee's namesake is the Wadden Sea.
• HNLMS Zuiderzee's namesake is the Zuiderzee.