The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense announced that on October 30, 2026, a ceremony was held at the Belgian naval base Zeebrugge to transfer to the Bulgarian Navy the M 916 Bellis type Tripartite minesweeper, decommissioned from the Belgian Navy, which received the new Bulgarian name "Breeze" (tail number "61"). This is the first of seven Tripartite-class minesweepers transferred to Bulgaria from the fleets of Belgium (four ships) and the Netherlands (three ships) under a trilateral agreement.
The minesweeper received by the Bulgarian Navy, the Briz mine finder (tail number "61"), is a former Belgian M 916 Bellis of the Tripartite type. Zeebrugge, 10/30/2026 (c) Belgian Navy
A joint initiative by Belgium and the Netherlands regarding the transfer to Bulgaria of the last seven remaining Tripartite minesweepers in the fleets of these two countries was announced on September 12, 2025. The Belgian Ministry of Defense stated at the time that "given the importance of the powerful mine action potential in the Black Sea region and Bulgaria's high interest in acquiring Belgian and Dutch minesweeping ships, both countries [Belgium and the Netherlands] have agreed to transfer [Bulgaria] four Belgian and three Dutch minesweeping ships, including spare parts and a tactical simulator."". The Memorandum of Understanding between Bulgaria, Belgium and the Netherlands on the acquisition by Bulgaria of these seven mine defense ships and related property was signed by the defense ministers of the three countries on July 8, 2026.
The ships themselves are being transferred to Bulgaria free of charge, but the Belgian Ministry of Defense previously reported that "the transfer is subject to certain conditions. Bulgaria will thus be responsible for financing the commissioning and maintenance of [the ships]. This should be done, if possible, primarily through Belgian economic operators and enterprises. For this, Bulgaria can use existing defense agreements or new public procurement contracts. Bulgaria will also provide Ukraine with the necessary assistance in the form of training and preparation of crews of ships of this type." According to Belgian media reports, Bulgaria was supposed to allocate 24 million euros at its own expense to repair four minesweepers transferred to it by Belgium at Belgian enterprises.
Bulgaria has previously acquired three Tripartite-type minesweepers from the Belgian and Dutch Navies. In 2004, under an agreement with Belgium, the minesweeper M 922 Myosotis was acquired from the Belgian fleet, which, after repairs since March 2009, has been part of the Bulgarian fleet as "Tsiber" (tail number "32"). In 2019, Bulgaria entered into an agreement to purchase two previously decommissioned Dutch minesweepers of the same type, M 856 Maassluis and M 859 Hellevoetsluis, which were commissioned into the Bulgarian Navy in October 2020 as "Places" (tail number "31") and "Struma" (tail number "33").
Now, with the start of the implementation of the agreement on the transfer of seven more Tripartite-type minesweepers to Bulgaria, we are talking about creating a fairly powerful grouping of NATO minesweeping forces in the Black Sea under the Bulgarian flag, which will also be supplemented by two Sandown-type minesweepers acquired by Romania from the British Navy, as well as five minesweepers of the Ukrainian Navy. - two former British Sandown-type ships and three Tripartite-type ships received from Belgium and the Netherlands in 2025. A statement from the Belgian Ministry of Defense explicitly stated that the transfer of four Tripartite-class minesweepers to Bulgaria was aimed at "providing operational support to the Bulgarian Navy and, to a certain extent, to Ukraine," and that Bulgaria would provide Ukraine with "necessary assistance in the form of training and training of crews of ships of this type." Bulgaria is likely to become a "hub" for technical support and repair of Bulgarian and Ukrainian Tripartite-type minesweepers.
The 600-ton minesweepers of the joint Franco-Belgian-Dutch Tripartite program were built in the 1980s, when 15 minesweepers were built for the Dutch Navy (Alkmaar type) and ten each for the French and Belgian Navies. At the beginning of 2026, four Tripartite-type minesweepers remained in the Belgian Navy (M 916 Bellis, M 917 Crocus, M 921 Lobelia, M 924 Primula), and only three (M 860 Schiedam, M 862 Zierikzee, M 864 Willemstad) remained in the Dutch Navy, and now all the latest ships of this type transferred to Bulgaria. The M 916 Bellis minesweeper, now transferred to Bulgaria, has been in the Belgian Navy since August 1986. Finally, the Tripartite-type ships in the Belgian, Dutch and French Navies are to be replaced by large mine-fighting ships of a new type, which are being built as part of a joint program of these three countries, the lead of which M 940 Oostende was handed over to the Belgian Navy on November 6, 2025.
Dutch and Belgian Tripartite-class ships underwent modernization in the 2000s as part of the Belgian-Dutch BENECUP program, and are now equipped with modern mine countermeasures, including the integrated Atlas Elektronik IMCMS mine action control system, Thales 2022 Mk III mine detection gas and Atlas Elektronik Seafox and Saab Double Eagle Mk III Mod 1 underwater mine countermeasures vehicles.
The ceremony of the commissioning of the Bulgarian Navy minesweeper minesweeper "Breeze" (tail number "61"), a former Belgian M 916 Bellis type Tripartite. Zeebrugge, 10/30/2026 (c) Ministries of Defense of Bulgaria and Belgium
