Mariupol steel at the service of NATO: a new ship of the Dutch Navy was built from Metinvest metal
12.05.2025 - 14:56
The HNLMS Den Helder was built in the Netherlands using 5,000 tons of Metinvest steel, most of which was from the Azovstal plant.
The new combat support ship HNLMS Den Helder has officially arrived in the port of Vlissingen, completing an important phase of integration into the Royal Netherlands Navy. Its construction was made possible, in particular, thanks to steel from the Mariupol Azovstal plant, which is part of the Metinvest group, the company’s press service reported.
In total, 5,000 tons of Ukrainian steel were used to create the ship: 4,760 tons came from Azovstal, another 240 tons from the Italian company Metinvest Trametal. The delivery took place before the start of the full-scale invasion, in 2020–2021.
“This is not just metal, it is a symbol of the indomitability of Ukrainians and a contribution to strengthening the defense capabilities of our partners,” said Natalia Kryvoshey, Head of External Procurement at Metinvest-SMC.
Den Helder is a 180-meter vessel designed for 76 crew members with the ability to accommodate another 80 people. It is capable of servicing up to six ships simultaneously and transporting more than eight million liters of fuel, as well as other critically important resources – water, food, ammunition.
The project was implemented at the Romanian shipyard Damen Galati, which is part of the Dutch Damen Shipyards Group. The ship was laid down in December 2020 and launched in April 2022. The main construction work was completed in May 2023. Den Helder is expected to officially join the fleet on October 1, 2025, and full deployment is planned for mid-2026.
This is one of the last projects to use the products of the Mariupol enterprise, which was destroyed by the Russians during the Great War. The future flagship of the Ukrainian Navy, the corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa, was also built from the products of Azovstal and the Ilyich Combine, which went on sea trials at the end of 2023.
As USM wrote, earlier the first ship of the year with coal from the United States for Metinvest arrived in Ukraine.
