Bellis (M916) is a of the Belgian Naval Component, launched on 14 February 1986 at the Mercantile-Belyard shipyard in Rupelmonde

Rupelmonde

Rupelmonde is a town in the municipality of Kruibeke, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It stands on the bank of the river Schelde opposite the confluence of the eponymous Rupel, and is famed for its sundials as well as having what is probably Belgium's only tidemill...

 and christened

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 by Ellen Goffinet-Rosman, the wife of the then Mayor of Arlon, on 18 September 1986. The patronage of the Bellis was accepted by the city of Arlon. It was the second of the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunters.

Commissioned on 13 August 1986, the ship participated the rescue of the Herald of Free Enterprise in March 1987.

Bellis was attached to NATO's Mine Countermeasure Force (North)

Standing NRF Mine Countermeasures Group 1

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation standing mine countermeasures Immediate Reaction Forces...

 (MCMFORNORTH) in 1987, 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004, and to Mine Countermeasures Force (South)

Standing NRF Mine Countermeasures Group 2

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation standing mine countermeasures Immediate Reaction Force. From 3 September 2001 to 1 January 2005 it was known as the Mine Countermeasures Force South...

 (MCMFORSOUTH) in 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2003.

It is currently commanded by Lieutenant

Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant

Ship-of-the-line lieutenant is a common naval rank, equivalent to the naval rank of Lieutenant in the UK, Commonwealth and US.The name of the rank derives from the name of the largest class of warship, the ship of the line, as opposed to smaller types of warship .The rank is lieutenant de vaisseau...

 First Class Emmanuel Verhaege.

The Bellis paid a courtesy visit to Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, in September 2008.

Bellis, in company with minehunter BNS Primula (M924) and support vessel BNS Godetia (A960) paid a three-day visit to Portsmouth Naval Base, UK from 9-12 July 2010 and was moored near Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...

London on the 17th July 2010.