Two weeks into a 12 month deployment, ESPS Cantabria and her embarked 12 person RAN DET have been busy navigating their way through the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and Red Sea en route to Australia. The principle objectives of Cantabria’s year long deployment to Australia is to provide afloat supp
Defence Ministers Andrew Robathan and Philip Dunne, plus one of the UK’s most senior military commanders, saw the RN’s Gulf mission first-hand on a visit to Bahrain. Armed Forces Minister Mr Robathan and Mr Dunne, who’s responsible for defence equipment, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Comma
The largest ship in the Royal Naval Service has taken on the vital – and unsung – task of keeping international task forces running east of Suez. Fresh from a refit in Dubai, one-stop support ship RFA Fort Victoria has taken over from tanker Wave Ruler with a US-led support force which provides doze
The Royal Australian Navy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Toowoomba has departed her home port of Fleet Base West in Western Australia for a six-month deployment to the Middle East. Toowoomba and her crew of 180 men and women will relieve HMAS Anzac, which has been in the Middle East for the past six month
The delivery ceremony of two vessels for the United Arab Emirates Navy was held on Tuesday, January 8 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia). These were an “Abu Dhabi Class” corvette, launched in February 2011, and the “Ghantut” patrol vessel, launched at the same yard in January 2012.
The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) announced Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) as the main sponsor for the Naval Defence Exhibition (NAVDEX) 2013. The sponsorship will help reinforce a re-vamped maritime security zone designed to address emerging trends in the region’s naval defence mar
U.S. Marines assigned to Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company, Central Command (FASTCENT), Charlie 5 Platoon, returned to Bahrain, after a 111-day deployment to Sana’a, Yemen, Jan. 1. Charlie 5 deployed to Sana’a Sept. 13, 2012, to provide continuous security for the U.S. Embassy immediately f
Royal Navy minehunters are marking six years of keeping the waters of the Gulf safe – and maintaining the UK’s global lead in dealing with the still-present threat of mines. Since the end of 2006, Britain has maintained a permanent minehunter presence in the region – currently HMS Atherstone, Quorn,
1. January US Navy to Deploy Third Carrier Group to Persian Gulf The US will dispatch another carrier strike group led by USS Enterprise to the Persian Gulf in March 2012, reported US Navy on Jan 25. The carrier group based in Norfolk, VA will also include a guided missile cruiser and three [&hell
The Iraqi navy and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command marked the delivery of two 60-meter Offshore Support Vessels (OSV 1/ OSV 2) to the Iraqi navy in a ceremony at the Umm Qasr naval facility, Dec. 20. The two OSVs, procured as part U.S. Navy’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program, will help
HMS Monmouth led Britain’s input to a five-day exercise in the Middle East demonstrating how the region’s naval forces can safeguard merchant shipping. The Devonport-based frigate was charged with protecting two supertankers from mock terrorist attack during Exercise Lucky Mariner 13, working alongs
Two dozen Royal Navy personnel oversaw a concerted effort to tackle terrorism and piracy in the seas east of Suez. Over five days, an international force of warships and Coast Guard vessels, focused their attention on either side of the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula a
Recently HMS Enterprise found the wreck of a dhow in the waters around one of the world’s busiest harbours using her new hi-tech motor launch. Two sunken vessels were discovered by the Devonport-based survey ship as she worked in Port Rashid – one of the main ports serving Dubai – as her nine-month
Portsmouth mine warfare experts have now taken over command from their Faslane counterparts in charge of the Royal Navy’s key mine warfare force in the Gulf. After six months in the hot seat, the battle staff from the Faslane-based 1st Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCM1) have handed over command of
