The United States Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) has extended the charter of the Austal high speed vessel WestPac Express for six months with the award of a US$7.0 million modification to the contract announced in December 2011. This modification exercises the second of three six-month charte
Early yesterday morning EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) warship FS Surcouf came to the rescue of ten mariners at sea 30 miles off the Somali Coast, after their boat, known as a dhow, started to sink into the deep ocean. The master of the Indian flagged dhow had sent out a distress call after the [&hellip
In the morning of 11th January 2013, the Force Commander of the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR), Rear Admiral Pedro García de Paredes held a meeting on board his flagship ESPS Méndez Núnez with the Commander of the Combined Maritime counter-piracy task force, Commodore Muhammad Hisham SI (Pakistan Navy).
Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 15, based in Belton, Mo., completed water well training Jan. 14. During the past week, 25 Seabees from NMCB 15’s water well team trained to execute the field portion of the well drill rig, drilling more than 200 feet down into the surface of th
The Royal Thai Navy has signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. government to purchase nine Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles for its two Naresuan frigates currently undergoing overhauls and upgrades. This LOA increases the total ESSM user community to 13 nations. The Royal Thai ESSMs will b
A recent demonstration proved that operators can observe surface moving targets – including a terrorist role-player planting an improvised explosive device – in real time using a Raytheon Company MTS-B Multi-Spectral Targeting System mounted on the JLENS. During the Raytheon-funded demonstration, an
The forward deployed Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46), part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), departed its homeport Jan. 14, for its spring deployment in the 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility. Tortuga will take part in an Amphibious Integration Training
Sailors received their warfare pins Jan. 11 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) from Vice Adm. David Buss, commander, Naval Air Forces. One Sailor in particular, Senior Chief (SW/EIDWS/AW) Intelligence Specialist James Christopher Williams received the Enlisted Information Dominance Warf
The Royal Navy’s sixth and final Type 45 destroyer – HMS Duncan -has reached a major milestone before she arrives in Portsmouth for the first time later this year. The anti-air warfare destroyer now has a full complement of crew members after 80 sailors assembled in Portsmouth Naval Base to official
Guided-missile frigate USS GARY (FFG 51) and its embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team (LEDET), TACLET South, turned a routine boarding into a display of joint proficiency and while conducting maritime interception operations in the 4th Fleet Area of Responsibility Jan. 8. While
Crews from two Royal Navy ships helped prevent a tug from sinking on the evening of January 13 in a dramatic rescue off the Devon coast. Sailors from HMS Lancaster and HMS Severn struggled in dark, freezing conditions to plug a hole in the damaged hull of the Christos XXII and pumped out tons of [&h
Austal announced the launch of the first-in-series Cape Class Patrol Boat during a ceremony with staff and suppliers at the company’s Henderson shipyard in Western Australia on January 7. The vessel is the first of eight new boats being built by Austal for the Australian Customs and Border Protectio
The Colombian Navy intercepted an unmanned semi-submersible submarine on Tuesday 60 nautical miles from the mouth of the Naya river that flows into the Pacific Ocean. The vessel is believed to have been intended for drug smuggling purposes, Colombia Reports informed. Navy Commander Carlos Delgado sa
After five-and-a-half years as a forward-deployed submarine stationed in Guam, the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Buffalo (SSN 715) departed for her new homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Jan. 11. Buffalo and its crew now head to Hawaii for a scheduled extended maintenance period and mission availab
