North Dakota Submarine Completes Alpha Sea Trials The US nation’s newest and most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarine, North Dakota (SSN-784), returned to the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard Tuesday following the successful completion of its first voyage in open seas, called alpha sea
Pella Shipyards’s special purpose tugboat “Belukha” (Building No 629, project 16609), built for the Russian Ministry of Defense, has successfully passed its sea trials. In the current year the tugboat will be delivered to the State Customer and put into operation within the Baltic Fleet Navy. The
NATO’s Counter-Piracy Mission, Operation Ocean Shield, has bid farewell to the Italian destroyer ITS MIMBELLI. The ITS MIMBELLI left Task Force 508 on Wednesday, 6 August 2014, after a job very well done as part of Operation Ocean Shield. The continuous, main effort of Task Force 508 is keeping co
Spanish Navy’s patrol boat ‘Relámpago’ has payed a visit to the city of Tarragona during its return voyage from Operation Atalanta. The vessel, which is currently headed back to its base in Las Palmas, docked in the port of Tarragona on August 6. ‘Relámpago’ deployed from its home base on 23 Februar
Lithuania is now in command of Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group ONE. German Navy Commander Gunther Brassel handed over command of SNMCMG1 to Lithuanian Navy Commander Giedrius Premeneckas during a brief ceremony on Thursday, 7 August, 2014. The ceremony was conducted by NATO Allied Mariti
Spanish authorities discovered 127 kilos of cocaine aboard Spanish Navy’s training vessel Juan Sebastián de Elcano on August 2. The investigation revealed that three officers were recruited to use the vessel to illegally transport cocaine from Cartagena de Indias across the ocean to New York. Afte
The Spanish Navy’s patrol boat ‘Tarifa’ returned to its base port in Cartagena, ending an inspection campaign “Caladero Nacional” that began last July 13. The aim of the campaign was the verification of compliance by the fleet trawl fisheries in relation to measures of gear and equipment, control
Portsmouth-based warship HMS Middleton has raced into pole position as the Royal Navy’s fastest minehunter following a major upgrade of her engines. HMS Middleton has become the second ship of her class to have new and improved Caterpillar engines fitted as part of a major overhaul. The new engine
The Spanish Navy’s patrol vessel “Infanta Cristina” participated in a drug-related operation in the Alboran Sea last Sunday. While on patrol in the Strait of Gibraltar “Infanta Cristina” spotted a suspicious high speed craft and started pursuit. After following the craft for four hours, together w
The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) has entered the Black Sea, Aug. 6, to promote peace and stability in the region. Vella Gulf’s mission is to improve interoperability and work toward mutual goals, demonstrating the United States’ commitment to strengthening the co
Babcock has begun work under the recently awarded contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide repair and maintenance to small boats used by the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army and MoD Police, which came into effect last month (July 2014). Babcock is one of the companies appoi
The ocean-going patrol vessel HNLMS Holland set sail for the Caribbean on August 3. The navy ship, with a 50-strong crew, is scheduled to arrive in the area on 18 August, where it will be deployed to counterdrugs operations and coastguard duties for a period of 4 months. The Holland will relieve t