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| Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy | |
|---|---|
| Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten | |
Rank flag for vice admiral
| |
Vice Admiral René Tas since 9 September 2021 | |
 Royal Netherlands Navy | |
| Type | Service chief |
| Abbreviation | CZsk |
| Member of | Admiral Benelux |
| Reports to |  Chief of Defence |
| Seat | The Hague |
| Precursor | Commander of the Naval Forces |
| Formation | 5 September 2005 |
| First holder | Jan-Willem Kelder |
The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Dutch: Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten) (CZsk) is the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The CZsk reports directly to the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff.
The position of CZsk was created on 5 September 2005, following a large overhaul of the command structure of the Dutch armed forces. In this overhaul the position of Bevelhebber der Zeestrijdkrachten was dropped and the position of Commander of the Naval Force in The Netherlands was upgraded to the current CZsk position. Ever since the integration of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps into the Navy, the former Commander of the Marine Corps has held the position of Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
In addition to being the commanding officer of the Dutch Navy, under the terms of the BENESAM Treaty the CZsk is also the Admiral of the Benelux (the commanding officer of the integrated command of the Dutch and Belgian fleets). This means the CZsk is the commanding officer of the operational units of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Belgian Naval Component. Also, the CZsk shares command responsibility with the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff for units that have been deployed on international missions (under the colors of the United Nations).
The position of CZsk is statutorily held by a Vice AdmiralorLieutenant General of the Marines (NATO OF-8). The current CZsk is Vice-Admiral Rene Tas, who succeeded Vice Admiral Rob Kramer in the position in September 2021.
The Commander of the Royal Dutch Navy is Director of four Directorates:
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 | 
|
Vice Admiral Jan-Willem Kelder (1949–2021) |
5 September 2005 | 31 August 2007 | 1 year, 360 days | |
| 2 | 
|
Lieutenant General Rob Zuiderwijk (born 1951) |
31 August 2007 | 22 January 2010 | 2 years, 144 days | |
| 3 | 
|
Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom (born 1959) |
22 January 2010 | 26 September 2014 | 4 years, 247 days | |
| 4 | 
|
Lieutenant General Rob Verkerk (born 1960) |
26 September 2014 | 22 September 2017 | 2 years, 361 days | |
| 5 | 
|
Vice Admiral Rob Kramer (born 1962) |
22 September 2017 | 9 September 2021 | 3 years, 352 days | |
| 6 | 
|
Vice Admiral René Tas (born 1964) |
9 September 2021 | Incumbent | 2 years, 279 days | [1] |
