No,those ships were to be made in Romania by Damen Romania.
The costs were low already.
Something must be wrong at the Damen shipyards in Romania.
How does this answer the below question?
''We need shipyard capacity for ourselves, why would we "rent" it out to another country so said shipyard builds their ships which aren't even Turkish products.''
The Romania branch of Damen only builds 'Empty Hull'. Yes, Damen Galati in Romania is contracted to build the raw steel hulls of the ASW frigates. And Romania's labor costs are indeed lower comparing to Netherlands. However, an empty steel hull is only about 20-25% of a modern frigate's total cost (labor + materials).
The real bottleneck is in Netherlands. Once the hulls are finished in Romania, they are towed to Damen Naval’s main shipyard in Vlissingen, Netherlands. This is where the real complex work happens: outfitting, installing the AWWS by Thales, and integrating the battle management software and dozens of other systems. So the 7-year delay is not because Romanian workers can't weld steel fast enough. The delay is happening because Damen Naval and its European software subcontractors are facing massive integration crises. And they cannot finalize the blueprint designs because the combat management software and next-gen radar integration are taking years longer than expected.
Because of these software and engineering delays in the Netherlands, engineering hour costs have skyrocketed due to inflation. Damen’s similar F126 frigate program for Germany is facing the exact same structural, software-driven delays(at least four years) right now. Furthermore, the total cost of the project is expected to increase by over 50%.
I am definitely not claiming that these ships will be equipped with Turkish weapons or Turkish radars. Belgium will of course keep its own choice of Western systems (Thales, Raytheon, etc.).
My point about shipyard and engineering capability and fully integrated service. The current 7-year crisis in the Netherlands is not because the Thales radar is not work; it is because the Dutch shipyard infrastructure faces a massive shortage of engineering hours and labor to physically install, wire, and integrate those complex systems into the hull on schedule. When the Belgian Minister looks at Türkiye, he sees shipyards that have proven they can take any system the customer requests (whether it's Western, local, or mixed, as seen in recent Ukrainian and Pakistani corvette/frigate programs), install them onto the ship, test them, and deliver a combat-ready platform within 36 months. So, to be very clear: The hull can be welded anywhere, the systems will remain Western, but the integrating shipyard might need to change if Europe wants these ships before 2034. I believe that, that is why Türkiye is on the table.