EUNAVFOR Med operation Sophia vessels participated in rescue operations saving 700 lives at sea on December 3. Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Rome, Italy sent a request early in the morning to Operation Sophia Force Commander, Rear Admiral (LH) Andrea Gueglio, to intervene on two ves
Danish Navy vessel HDMS Absalon and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy guided-missile Liuzhou took part in combined sea training during NATO’s Ocean Shield operation. The last week’s, Gulf of Aden, sea training was set in motion by the Chinese boarding team fast roping onto Absalon heli
Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Victoria, integrated into the counter-piracy operation Atalanta in the Indian Ocean, assisted a fishing boat off the coast of Somalia on November 29. The ship was informed that the boat was running out of fuel and water. The rough weather prevented the use of the warship’s
After being trained by the crew of Danish HDMS Absalon, 22 soldiers from the Somaliland Coast Guard boarded a small vessel in a safe and professional manner this week. The boarded vessel had been hired and assigned for the task, and the successful boarding concluded two days of demanding maritime tr
Irish patrol vessel LÉ Samuel Beckett assumed the coordinating role in a search and rescue operation which rescued 100 people, 87 kilometres northeast of Tripoli, Libya. According to the Irish Defence Forces’ press office, LÉ Samuel Beckett, with assistance from the Italian ITS Aliseo and its embark
Spanish Navy units have recovered the Spanish Airforce helicopter which crashed 40 nautical miles southwest of Dakhla, Morocco. This incident, which occurred on October 22, left three persons dead. Their bodies were recovered after a search operation on October 31. According to the Spanish Navy, Off
In yet another rescue operation five Eunavfor Med Force units saved the lives of more than 500 migrants yesterday, November 5. Two air assets, the Spanish Orion P3 and the Luxembourgian SW3 Merlin III “Seagull” aircraft, spotted 3 overcrowded boats, 1 fishing vessel and 2 skiffs, early in the mornin
The Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) departed the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations (AOO) Nov. 1. While on station in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOO, the ARG and MEU supported theater security cooperation efforts and provided a forward naval presence w
After it was united with the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, the Belgian Navy’s frigate Leopold I (F930) joined the rest of the EUNAVFOR Med fleet in the Mediterranean. The vessel marked its first week of patrol in the international waters off the coast of Libya as part of the Operation Sophia. Dur
Spanish ESPS Victoria received a stores air-drop from the Spanish Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA), CASA CN-235, based in Djibouti. The patrol aircraft flew out to ESPS Victoria’s location at sea off the coast of Somalia on Monday, October 26, to deliver a vital piece of equipment
Spanish frigate Canarias participated in the rescue of more than 100 people off the coast of Libya after its embarked SH-60B helicopter sighted a boat adrift. The frigate Canarias, deployed in the EUNAVFOR operation Sophia, spotted an inflatable boat with over 100 people on board during a reconnaiss
Spanish warship, ESPS Victoria, has joined Operation Atalanta, the European Union’s counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia. She departed her home port in Spain on September 10. ESPS Victoria is a Santa María class frigate. Built in Spain, her design is based on the US Oliver Hazard Perry
French Navy’s frigate FS Courbet joined EU Naval Force MED operation on October 2. The vessel departed from her home base in Toulon, France, with a Panther helicopter from the French Naval Aviation 36F Flottille, allowing it to significantly expand the scope of its sensors. Whilst with EUNAVFOR MED,
Spanish frigate ESPS Canarias officially joined EUNAVFOR MED on October 5, 2015. The Spanish ship reached the European mission flag-ship, the Italian aircraft vessel Cavour, in the military harbor of Augusta, in Sicily, early in the morning, spending an entire briefing-day on board to complete the p
