a few years back insurance company '1816' donated 1.5 million euro to the KNRM. the KNRM decided the money would be used to develop an follow-on to the
Arie Visser Class, the flagships of the KNRM. to honour the donator, this project was named '1816'. four partners, the KNRM, TU delft, de Vries Lentsch and Damen Shipyards.
2 designs were made for testing: an improved version of the Arie Visser class, and an revolutionary axe bow design. in the end the axe bow design was chosen, but it was not entirely perfect. the visions of the crews were taken in to the concept, and an 3rd concept emerged. an 'prototype' of this design will be build, and in October 2012 this ship will start operational testing.
the axe bow designs are coming soon, but here is the evolved Arie Visser design: