The U.S. Marine Corps is starting an overhaul of its open water safety craft (OWSC) this year under the Enterprise Life Cycle Maintenance Program. This is the first round of major maintenance for the OWSC, which has been in service since 2006, and is used as an emergency vessel during waterborne tra
Construction of Australia’s new antarctic supply research vessel (ASRV) started in Romania with a steel-cutting ceremony on May 31. Dutch shipbuilder Damen is in charge of constructing the vessel at its Galati, Romania, shipyard. The shipbuilder is constructing the ASRV for Serco Defence, a subsidia
After concluding amphibious drills with U.S. Marines off Guam recently, French Navy ships FS Mistral and FS Courbet trained with Australian and Spanish Navy ships in Australian waters. The French ships engaged Australian ships Success and Parramatta and the Spanish Navy’s Cristobal Colon in waters t
In the second attack on commercial vessels in just two days, pirates attempted to hijack oil tanker MT NAVIG8 Providence in the Arabian Sea on June 1. The incident, confirmed by EU NAVFOR, took place in the Gulf of Oman as the MT NAVIG8 Providence was sailing 100 nautical miles east of Muscat. Accor
The final Australian-developed Nulka missile decoy was delivered to the Australian Navy by BAE Systems in April, after three decades of service to Australia, the United States and Canada. Once launched, Nulka can fly a pre-programmed flight path to entice sea-skimming missiles away from a ship. It h
Three men in a skiff approached a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the southern Bab-el-Mandeb strait and opened fire on it on May 31, EU NAVFOR has confirmed. The vessel’s master reported that the attackers fired three rocket-propelled grenades, before breaking off the attack. The onboard arme
After three months of operations, personnel from this year’s Pacific Partnership mission returned to Singapore USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) on May 31. Their return marked the conclusion of this year’s mission. Fall River departed Singapore on March 4 and served as the command platform for the Pacific P
Royal Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Wollongong participated in a four-day exercise with the Republic of Fiji Navy ship Kula during a recent visit to Fiji. Wollongong is on a South West Pacific deployment, which includes visits to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, as part of the Aust
Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth intercepted a fishing dhow carrying £65m worth of cannabis and heroin in the Indian Ocean, the Royal Navy announced on Wednesday without specifying when the action took place. The navy further said sailors aboard the Type 23 frigate destroyed 455kg of cannabis and 266
Navy ships from the UK and EU escorted a small fleet of Russian Navy ships as they passed through the English Channel over the weekend. Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey intercepted the intelligence ship Vasily Tatishchev, depot ship PM82 in company with a Russian tug and the frigate Severomorsk. Me
The government of Canada has extended the country’s contribution to international maritime security operations in the Middle East and East Africa under operation Artemis. Announced by defence minister Harjit S. Sajjan and parliamentary secretary Jean Rioux, operation Artemis authorizes the Canadian
Cape Inscription, the second Cape-class patrol boat, was delivered to the Australian Navy by shipbuilder Austal on May 29. The Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Inscription is the tenth Cape-class designed and constructed by Austal. Cape Inscription joins Cape Fourcroy, which was delivered to the
Preparing for the Onslaught Are We Ready to Cooperatively Manage Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Andrew Keene In September, 1941, USS GREER (DD-145) had moved from its patrols in the Caribbean to the North Atlantic as part of the Neutrality Patrol. Headed toward Iceland she was still some 200 miles southwe
After almost two years of operations with the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Defence Vessel Cape Byron was returned to the original owner, Australian Border Force. The crew of ADV Cape Byron gathered on the upper deck to farewell and hand-back the Cape class patrol boat as her duties for navy com
