Dutch moving forward on their version of Joint Support Ship

A big honking ship (another one here):

The Dutch have signed an agreement in principle with Damen Naval for their version of the JSS. It will cost €365,5mln (C$ 577,5mln) and have a displacement of 27.800 tons.

The letter to parliament said this about a cooperation with Canada [see below]:
The Canadian procurement strategy offered no starting point for cooperation, other than an information exchange.

Diesel-electric propulsion, maximum speed: 18 knots, crew of 152 (max 171) and room for an additional 129 troops for a total of 300, 2 heli spots (for NH-90 and/or Chinook) and a hangar for 6 of those helicopters (with wings folded) and a hospital with 2 operating rooms.

Parliament (and not only the oppostion) is starting to raise questions about the price, since the original (2005) budget was about €100mln less.

from: www.dutchfleet.net...

More here on our possible cooperation with the Dutch on our (stalled) JSS, and possible foreign designs that might suit our (stalled) Arctic/Offshore patrol ships.

Update thought: Amazing what a country about as wealthy as Canada but with half the population is capable of doing.