Two high speed support vessels (HSSV) constructed by Austal for the Royal Navy of Oman have been officially named during a ceremony held at Austal’s Henderson, Australia shipyard April 15. The first vessel – RNOV Al Mubshir (S11) – is on schedule for delivery in the first half of 2016 while the seco
Austal has launched the second high speed support vessel (HSSV) it is building for the Royal Navy of Oman. The Australian company said the vessel was ready for the naming ceremony scheduled for April 15. This second, 72-meter, vessel was built under a US$124.9 million contract the company received i
Photos: EUNAVFOR Three Operation Atalanta warships were operating in the Gulf of Aden recently when they took the opportunity to conduct Force Integration Training (FIT). The FIT included a number of naval manoeuvres which served to confirm that the warships were ready in all respects for their coun
Republic of Singapore Navy assumed command of the Combined Maritime Forces’ counter piracy unit, the CTF 151, from the Pakistan Navy during a ceremony held at CMF headquarters in Bahrain on March 31. Rear Admiral Cheong Kwok Chien will lead a multi-national team of over thirty people for three month
Royal Navy personnel from HMS Excellent, a shore establishment of the Navy, will head to the Arabian Gulf where they will assume command of the Combined Task Force 150 next month. Part of Combined Maritime Forces, Combined Task Force 150 is policing more than two million square miles of sea on the l
Having sailed 23000 nautical miles safeguarding the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle in the Middle East, the German frigate FGS Augsburg has bid farewell to the international group and headed home. During the group’s deployment in the Persian Gulf, French aircraft conducted 23 reconnai
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Darwin has uncovered and seized a large weapons cache after boarding a small fishing vessel approximately 170 nautical miles (313 kilometres) off the coast of Oman. The frigate’s crew initially conducted a flag verification boarding. After assessing the vessel to b
Royal Australian Navy’s Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate HMAS Melbourne returned to her Sydney homeport on February 28 after 203 days of deployment and five narcotics seizures. In the five interceptions, the frigate seized a total of 977 kg of heroin valued at approximately $390 million. Melbou
Boarding party teams of the Royal Australian Navy’s Adelaide-class frigate HMAS Darwin recently sharpened their counter-terrorism skills as the ship begins maritime patrols in the Middle East region with Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). During Darwin’s stopover in Bahrain, the Australian sailors cond
Royal Marines have tested their skills and know-how by fast roping from a helicopter onto HMS St Albans flightdeck. Using St Albans’ Merlin helicopter, one by one members of the ship’s Royal Marines Boarding Team (RMBT) carried out one of their most dangerous training exercises – descending from a h
Having seized almost a tonne of heroin and made more than 50 boarding operations, Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne is now returning home to Australia. The guided missile frigate handed over maritime security responsibilities to sister ship, HMAS Darwin, after five months of operations in
The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Commander’s Conference took place in Bahrain on February 2 2016. The bi-annual conference brings together senior military representatives from CMF members, to update them on CMF’s achievements, assess operational effectiveness and discuss, in an open forum, ways of
The crew of the Royal Australian Navy’s guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne made their fifth drug seizure in Operation Manitou as they seized around 65kg of heroin from a dhow in the Indian Ocean. The hidden drugs were discovered when Melbourne’s boarding party searched a suspect vessel during Mel
Fighter jets aboard the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle have been conducting airstrikes against the Daesh positions in Syria since November 2015 while the carrier itself was positioned in the Persian Gulf. While the carrier is a powerful offensive ship it lacks armament to protect itsel
