BeNeSam (, Belgium-Netherlands Cooperation Accord) is the name of the Belgian- Dutch

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

cooperation.

History

The history of 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 (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

and the

Belgian Navy The Belgian Navy, officially the Naval Component (, ; , ; , ) of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the Navy, naval service of Belgium. History Early history The Belgian Navy was created as the ''Marine Royale'' () on 15 January 1831. This force ...

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 ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

activated Allied Command Channel (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 was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

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 headquartered in

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 in

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

. This school is also a NATO ''Centre of Excellence''. The ''Mine Counter Measures Operational Sea Training'' takes place in

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) 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-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

. 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 ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. As far as technical naval trainings are still done separately the two navies have had a joint

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

since 2010. The Belgian and Dutch M-frigates and minehunters 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, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

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 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." Dutch Defence Minister Hans Hillen declared that BeNeSam was an extraordinary base to build upon. He didn't reject the idea of mixed crews. Earlier that week, Hillen had 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