This week the European Union is marking eight years since it launched its first ever maritime military operation, EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation Atalanta, in response to a surge in armed pirate attacks on merchant ships and other vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Back in 2008, increasingl
French Navy aviso FS Commandant l’Herminier bid farewell to EUNAVFOR’s Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia last weekend. The ship contributed to the prevention of arms and migrant smuggling since she joined the mission on November 12. During her time with the operation, Commandant l’Herminier was inv
German Navy minesweeper FGS Fulda has concluded her deployment to NATO’s standing mine countermeasures group two and is currently on the way back home. Fulda and her crew are set to enter the Kiel navy base on December 16 after four months at sea. Commanded by Captain lieutenant Michael Montag, the
U.S. Navy’s Guam-based Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 Det. 6 returned home after a seven-month deployment in the western Pacific and South China Sea. The detachment departed Guam May 25, and supported Commander Amphibious Force 7th Fleet from naval air facility Atsugi and aboard amphibious
Spanish Navy’s replenishment oiler ESPS Cantabria has concluded its 71-day deployment to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 and is now returning home. The ship is expected to arrive in the Spanish city of Ferrol on December 15. ESPS Cantabria has sailed more than 15,000 nautical miles, supplied more t
Le Téméraire, the last of three French Navy’s nuclear submarines, has started her regular overhaul during which she will adapted to carry the M51 missile. Le Terrible, the fourth and latest in the series of new-generation of SSBNs has been equipped with the M51 missile from the outset. Le Téméraire
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Fredericton returned to Nova Scotia on December 9 after completing a two and a half week visit to the Americas. By visiting Cuba, HMCS Fredericton became the first ship to do so in more than 50 years. The frigate visited the ports of Veracruz, Mexico; Cartagena, Colo
Shipbuilder BAE Systems has been awarded a five year, $70 million contract to maintain the Australian Navy’s new air warfare destroyers. The announcement was made Friday by the Australian minister for defence industry Christopher Pyne. The contract will see BAE Systems manage the delivery of support
Shipbuilder BAE Systems received a new floating dry dock at its San Diego shipyard on December 8. The 950-foot-long, 55,000-long-ton dry dock is part of the company’s $100 million investment in the yard to service the anticipated increase of U.S. Navy ships on the West Coast. “We have made the strat
The U.S. Navy and Queensland government started a two-day Biofutures Industry Forum at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 7. The forum builds on a statement of cooperation signed between the two sides under which U.S. Navy’s Great Green Fleet warships would refuel with biofuel
Members of a hydrographic team embarked on Australian Navy hydrographic survey vessel HMAS Melville recently helped an outback community ensure safe navigation for shipping. The crew deployed on the first detached boat camp conducted for several years to test the detached Survey Motor Boat survey ca
The UK Ministry of Defence announced Thursday that work on two new offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Navy will get underway with a £278M contract with shipbuilder BAE Systems. The two new vessels were named HMS Tamar and HMS Spey. Preparation works were already underway and Minister for Defence
German Navy’s air-defense frigate FGS Sachsen will depart its homeport to become the new flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2. Sachsen will be taking the place of Dutch De Zeven Provincien-class frigate HNLMS De Ruyter which has been at the helm of SNMG2 since September this year. The lead s
The Royal Australian Navy’s mine warfare and clearance diving task group spent two weeks testing its mine warfare capabilities during the Australian Navy’s large-scale exercise Ocean Raider. During the drills, the group coordinated the location and disposal of simulated sea mines from Broken Bay, Ne
