The Royal Australian Navy now has enhanced amphibious warfare capability with the commissioning in Fremantle today of Australia’s newest warship, the Bay Class Landing Ship HMAS Choules. Choules, a former Royal Fleet Auxiliary which served the Royal Navy under the name Largs Bay, was renamed after C
General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $14,925,071 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-4013) for the USS Boxer (LHD 4) fiscal 2012 phased maintenance availabilities (PMA). A PMA includes the planning and execution of depot-lev
A team of 24 troops from Uganda, part of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) received vessel protection training from French and Estonian troops in Mombasa onboard FS FLOREAL, which is operating as part of the EU NAVFOR. The training was planned as part of ongoing improvements in capability and
In Djibouti on 7 December, RAdm Christian Canova FRAN, Deputy Commander EU NAVFOR, transferred six powerful outboard motors which had been confiscated from Somali pirates to Colonel Abdourahman Aden Cher, Chief of the Djiboutian Navy. The engines were taken from small skiffs which had been stopped b
A solemn farewell ceremony of the Pacific Fleet (PF) task unit heading for the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy took place in Vladivostok on Dec 10. The event was attended by PF officials, representatives of the city’s veteran and public organizations. The seventh PF task unit consists of large antisubm
NATO warship USS De Wert prevented a suspected pirate dhow from engaging in acts of piracy and forced it back to the Somali coast making further acts of piracy impossible at this time. While engaged in a replenishment at sea, USS De Wert received intelligence reports that a dhow acting suspiciously
The Navy successfully concluded its final alternative fuel demonstration for the year today with the Dec. 7-9 operational tests of the 50/50 algae-derived, hydro-processed algal oil and petroleum F-76 blend in a landing craft air cushion (LCAC) amphibious transport vehicle. The tests also marked the
The current year has brought a record-breaking income to Somali pirates hijacking ships and crews for ransom, said deputy director of EU NAVFOR – Operation Atalanta in the interview to online Bruxelles2. According to the admiral, pirates have obtained over $135 mln ransoms in 2011, while in the past
More than 600 new light emitting diode (LED) lighting fixtures were installed on USS Chafee (DDG 90) during the ship’s recently completed availability, providing the ship with longer-lasting lights that use less electric power than the replaced incandescent and fluorescent light fixtures. The new fi
Group of Baltic Fleet (BF) officers returned fr om St. Petersburg where they discussed the coming FRUKUS 2012 international exercise. It will take place in the Baltic Sea for the first time. During the session of working group, BF officers along with representatives of Russian Navy main HQ, Northern
Farewell ceremony of another Pacific Fleet (PF) task unit consisting of large ASW ship Admiral Tributs, tanker Pechenga, and seagoing tug MB-37 will be held on Dec 10. The unit will head for the Gulf of Aden to protect commercial shipping from pirate attacks. That will be the seventh PF task unit fo
The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) returned to Sasebo, Japan Dec. 8 after completing a two-and-a-half month patrol of the Western Pacific. Throughout the patrol, Essex Sailors along with the embarked Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) participated in two
Baltic Fleet (BF) frigate Yaroslav Mudry and replenishment tanker Lena on Dec 7 left BF main naval base Baltiysk heading for the North Sea. The long-range cruise of BF task unit under command of Capt 1 rank Alexander Ivanovsky will be held in accordance with the Russian Navy Combat Training Plan. Th
Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) reflected on the meaning of the ship’s namesake during a ceremony Dec. 7, exactly 70 years after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. In a ceremony held on the ship’s flight deck, Pearl Harbor crew members and embarked Mar
