The West Indies Guard Ship (WIGS) is a ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy that rotates about every four to six months in support of the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard. It can be a frigate but more commonly one of the navy's s is deployed to the region. This vessel usually carries an NHIndustries NH90 helicopter for search and rescue tasks and pursuit of suspect vessels.
A special boarding team from the U.S. Coast Guard can be embarked on board the WIGS, authorized to carry out boardings beyond the territorial waters of the Dutch Caribbean islands. This cooperation between Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, the United States, and other actors is formalized in the Joint Interagency Task Force South, situated in Key West, Florida, United States.
Stationed ships
Period served as WIGS Ship Note September 2026- Present June 2026 – September 2026 February 2026 – June 2026 September 2025 – February 2026 September 2025HNLMS Van Amstel (F831) May 2025 – September 2025 January 2025 – May 2025 September 2024 – December 2024 March 2024 – August 2024 June 2023 – March 2024 -Vacant- October 2022 – May 2023 April 2022 – October 2022 January 2022 – April 2022 May 2021 – January 2022 December 2020 – May 2021 -Vacant- July 2020 – December 2020 April 2020 – July 2020 April 2019 – April 2020 December 2018 – April 2019 July 2018 – December 2018 April 2018 – July 2018 October 2017 – April 2018 June 2017 – October 2017 March 2017 – June 2017 October 2016 – March 2017 June 2016 – October 2016 January 2016 – June 2016 September 2015 – January 2016 June 2015 – September 2015 February 2015 – June 2015 August 2014 – February 2015 May 2014 – August 2014 January 2014 – May 2014 August 2013 – January 2014 May 2013 – August 2013 January 2013 – May 2013
See also West Indies Guard Ship, Royal Navy equivalent.
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