A patrol vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy carried out surveillance and escort tasks of Russian naval units during their transit through the North Sea, as part of the routine maritime control procedures in the Netherlands’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The patrol vessel DSS Galatea escorted the Russian corvette RFS Boikiy, belonging to the Steregushchy class (it is worth noting that NATO classifies these ships as “frigates”), together with the tanker General Skobelev, while both vessels transited waters under Dutch jurisdiction. The ships entered from the southern sector and were monitored until leaving the Dutch portion of the EEZ, at which point responsibility was handed over to allied forces.
Permanent naval surveillance in the North Sea
According to information from the Netherlands Ministry of Defence, this was not an isolated action. In the preceding days, the DSS Galatea also accompanied two other Russian vessels during their passage through the North Sea, following the same pattern of entry from the south and exit to the north.
Since July 2023, Dutch forces have maintained a permanent presence in this maritime area. Among their tasks is the escort of military vessels belonging to non-NATO countries when they transit the national EEZ, always in coordination with allies and in accordance with applicable international regulations.
These operations aim to maintain surveillance, ensure maritime security, and guarantee oversight of foreign naval activities in one of Europe’s busiest maritime regions.
The role of the DSS Galatea
The DSS Galatea is a civilian vessel leased by the Dutch Ministry of Defence since last year, as an interim solution until the incorporation of two future multifunctional support vessels, scheduled for next year.
Thanks to a special leasing agreement, this vessel—classified as a government ship—is authorized to conduct detection, escort, guidance, and monitoring tasks, which are key functions within the national maritime security framework.
Recent precedent in the Strait of Gibraltar
The monitoring of the corvette RFS Boikiy adds to a similar episode that occurred days earlier in the Strait of Gibraltar, one of the most strategically important maritime passages in the world. On that occasion, open-source information indicated that vessels of the Royal Navy and the Spanish Navy carried out surveillance and escort tasks during the Russian unit’s transit toward the Atlantic Ocean.
During that passage, the British patrol vessel HMS Dagger (P296) and the Spanish offshore patrol vessel ESPS Furor (P-46) accompanied both the corvette RFS Boikiy (532) and the tanker General Skobelev, under a close-monitoring scheme in line with standard protocols for the presence of foreign military vessels.
While no official statements were released by either the United Kingdom or Spain, observers noted that HMS Dagger also appeared to have the role of supervising the conduct of the joint operation, within the framework of allied coordination and existing maritime security procedures.
*Archive images from the Netherlands Ministry of Defence.
You may also like: The Czech Republic will not move forward with the transfer of L-159 light fighters to the Ukrainian Air Force
