RH Marine is working with Damen Naval, which is giving the naval vessel a midlife upgrade at its shipyard in Vlissingen, combined with an overall overhaul. RH Marine and Damen Naval also worked together between 2003 and 2007 on the construction of the Royal Netherlands Navy's Zr.Ms. Johan de Witt.
State-of-the-art naval ship with Rhodium technology
RH Marine supplied and installed for Zr.Ms. Johan de Witt its Rhodium Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), which controls and monitors most of the systems on board. This includes the Alarm Monitoring and Control System, the Propulsion Control System and the Power Management System. It also includes the Rhodium Integrated Bridge Management System (IBMS), the navigation radar, the WECDIS digital charting system, the Own Ship Data Distribution System (OSDDS) and the Emergency Power Supply System (UPS). All these systems are now being updated according to the latest technology. The IPMS and IBMS were assembled in RH Marine's own workshop in Schiedam. The software automation and communication protocols have been extensively tested for readiness.
Two years of preparatory work
RH Marine has been designing all new systems for two years. Work on board started in early March. In the first few months, the old equipment will be dismantled and removed. The ship's cabling will also be removed. As part of the maintenance, power distributors, sensors and other components will be inspected and replaced if necessary. The operational areas, including the bridge, technical centre and command centre, are being refitted. For this purpose, 60 new consoles have been designed in cooperation with TNO. These prefab consoles and other equipment are ready to be built into the ship.
Landing craft and amphibious transport ship in one
As a Landing Platform Dock (LPD), the main task of Zr.Ms. Johan de Witt is to support amphibious operations on the border of land and water. The ship can land personnel and goods without port. In addition, the ship can serve as a sailing command centre for directing large-scale amphibious and maritime operations. Sr.Ms. Johan de Witt is now 15 years old. Therefore, it will receive a standard upgrade and key equipment will be renewed. At the same time, major maintenance will be carried out, which is needed after its 15th year of life. "As one of the leading system integrators in the defence market, we develop and install electrical and automation systems for almost all Dutch naval vessels," says RH Marine project leader Jos Geerdes.
