The frigate HNLMS Evertsen will be taking part in the British Carrier Strike Group (CSG) in the coming six months. This is a fleet around the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, with 32 British and American fighter planes and helicopters on board. The Dutch frigate provides air defence.
Together with other (NATO) partners, the Evertsen will carry out exercises and patrols en route to Japan, writes Dutch Minister of Defence Ank Bijleveld in a letter to the Dutch Parliament. The ship will visit ports in the Black Sea, India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. Bijleveld said that these port visits were also intended to strengthen diplomatic, economic and security ties in the Indo-Pacific region.
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The CSG ships will not pass through the Taiwan Strait. Tension between China and Taiwan has recently risen due to the presence of Chinese warships in this strait. China does not recognise Taiwan, but considers the island state as a renegade province.
The Evertsen departs on 22 May and will return at the beginning of December.
Source: ANP
