Spanish Navy’s Santa María-class frigate Navarra departed Naval Base Rota to relieve sister-ship Reina Sofía in EUNAVFOR’s operation Sophia which is a mission to prevent loss of life at sea in the Mediterranean Sea. The two frigates will meet in Augusta, Italy for the handover ceremony. Operation So
The French Navy has taken delivery of the second Kership-built Bâtiment multi-mission ship named Bougainville. The second of overall three vessels in the class was delivered on September 16 and will soon head for its homeport in Papeete in French Polynesia. Kership, a joint venture between DCNS and
Royal Navy flagship HMS Ocean has sailed from Plymouth on a 6.5-month deployment during which it will serve as command ship for the international Combined Task Force 50 commander who will lead counter-terrorist activities. The amphibious assault ship will first form part of a UK Joint Expeditionary
The Arab Republic of Egypt has received the second and last Mistral-class helicopter carrier it acquired from France in October 2015. The change of flag ceremony for the amphibious assault ship which Egypt named Anwar El Sadat took place on September 16 and was attended by the two Chiefs of Staff of
Following a request for information (RFI) for its Squadron 2020 project to construct four ice-going offshore patrol vessels, the Finnish Navy has now signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Rauma-based shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions. If the LOI is realized, the company will build f
The European Union Council gave its final approval to the European Border and Coast Guard on September 14 and the EU now estimates the body will start its activities in mid-October. The main role of the European Border and Coast Guard is to help provide integrated border management at the external b
Royal Navy’s amphibious warship HMS Bulwark set sail on September 12 to lead a major exercise to the Adriatic and Arabian Seas. Plymouth-based HMS Bulwark has spent the last four weeks preparing for this autumn’s annual Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (JEF) deployment with a combination of trai
German Navy frigate FGS Karlsruhe is scheduled to return from the Mediterranean Sea and her last operational deployment on September 16. The ship was first part of operation Sophia and later joined the NATO-led Again Sea patrol mission aimed at curbing people smuggling. Karlsruhe deployed half a yea
Royal Navy’s Submarine Parachute Assistance Group (SPAG) has successfully completed a week long exercise in the skies and waters above and around Gibraltar earlier this summer. The Navy said that eleven members of the team conducted over 20 parachute jumps from the back of an RAF Hercules transport
Ultra Electronics has awarded Cohort plc’s subsidiary SEA a £2 ($2.6) million contract to supply transducers for the Royal Navy’s Sonar 2050 Technology Refresh program (S2050TR) to upgrade Type 23 frigates. Back in December 2014, the Royal Navy awarded a £27m contract to Ultra Electronics’ Sonar Sys
US Navy’s 6th Fleet flagship USS Mount Whitney will undergo a six-month dry docking and overhaul in the Croatian Viktor Lenac Shipyard, the company announced on September 13. Under the terms of the contract, USS Mount Whitney will undergo the 3rd stage of its scheduled life-cycle maintenance to exte
Units from Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) destroyed eight historic ordnance mines during the Norwegian MINEX exercise which was completed August 25, in Trondheim, Norway. The exercise involved minesweeping ships from five NATO allies sweeping sections of Norway’s coastal wate
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown, currently part of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2, recently conducted a cooperative boarding on the Togolese flag merchant vessel (MV) Byblos as part of NATO’s counter-terrorism Operation Active Endeavour. HMCS Charlottetown (FFH 339) conducted this c
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer has visited Gibraltar for a second time, four years after the ship’s first visit to the British overseas territory. The Portsmouth-based destroyer stopped off in the harbour as she prepares to head east of Suez on maritime security operations. It was a busy day in the
