The Dutch navy vessel HMS Rotterdam, currently serving as a hospital ship in Liberia, will not remain there for longer than originally scheduled.
Defence minister Henk Kamp announced this decision during a working visit to Liberia, accompanied by development cooperation minister Agnes van Ardenne.
Mr Kamp turned down a United Nations request to extend the mission. The ship, which is currently off the coast of Liberia, will return to the Netherlands on 16 February, as scheduled, after completing three months' service in support of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
Mr Kamp and Ms Van Ardenne will be visiting Liberia and Sudan until 29 January.
Agnes van Ardenne has pledged 2.5 million euro in humanitarian aid to Liberia for this year. The money will be channelled through NGOs and UN agencies.
International aid has been trickling into Liberia since the signing of the peace agreement in 2003, but aid workers are still unable to reach some parts of the country. The main problems to be tackled, which are therefore priorities in the Dutch humanitarian aid programme for Liberia, are food security and access to water and sanitation.