On Tuesday 20 October 2015, Operation Atalanta’s new flagship, ITS Carabiniere, was visited by the Operation Commander, Major General Martin Smith MBE. Major General Smith, together with the officer in charge of the Support Element Atalanta (SEA) based in Djibouti, Commander Philippe Dezoteux, was h
U.S. 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) departed Glenmallan, Scotland for a scheduled embarkation, Oct. 19. The Blue Ridge-class flagship conducted a brief port visit and embarked U.S. 6th Fleet and Maritime Theater Missile Defense (MTMD) Forum personnel. Deputy Commander,
Italian vessel ITS Carabiniere conducted a replenishment at sea (RAS) with US Navy ship, USNS Carl Brashear, prior to joining Operation Atalanta on Friday, October 17. Having sailed into the counter-piracy sea areas in the Gulf of Aden, ITS Carabiniere went alongside USNS Carl Brashear to replenish
As part of its deployment to EU Naval Forces’ mission in the Horn of Africa, the Spanish Navy’s frigate Victoria was on a visit to the Seychelles archipelago between October 16 and 19. During its stay in port of Victoria, the capital of Seychelles, the vessel welcomed aboard the Honorary Consul of t
Austal has rolled out the first of two 72m High Speed Support Vessels (HSSV’s) being built for the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), on October 16, at the company’s Henderson Western Australia shipyard. Austal Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bellamy said the HSSV program successfully represents Austal’s capa
Italian warship, ITS Libeccio, started her journey home to La Spezia after completing her deployment with the European Union’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta on Tuesday, October 20. During the past four and a half months, ITS Libeccio conducted counter-piracy patrols, friendly approaches with loc
The German Tender Werra has left Operation Sophia after over four months of deployment. Werra was substituted by the German combat support ship, FGS Berlin. With Commander Marcel Rosenbohm at the helm, FGS Berlin arrived to the Italian port of Augusta, Oct 14, to begin its EU Naval Force deployment.
Having a bottom scrape might not be for everyone, but it’s bought another 10 years for the museum ship, and stalwart of Melbourne’s Williamstown waterfront, HMAS Castlemaine. The Bathurst class corvette, built and commissioned at Williamstown between 1941-1942, was one of 60 built in Australia durin
HMS Queen Elizabeth Tests 13-Tonne Anchors The mighty anchors on Britain’s biggest warship have been tested for the first time. Royal Navy’s Diamond Gets New Gadgets The new-look, souped-up HMS Diamond makes her way to sea for the first time since the summer of 2014. Infographic: Operation Sophia in
Exercise DUGONG 15, a mine countermeasures exercise which involved seven Navies, has drawn to a close in Hobart. The event brought mine warfare and dive teams from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and United States together for two weeks to practice contemporary mine warfare and dive salvage te
In an operation conducted yesterday, October 13, the German Navy’s frigate Schleswig-Holstein rescued 207 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. The action started when the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (I.M.R.C.C.) requested EUNAVFOR MED Task Force operating in the Central Mediterranean t
The EU anti-migrant smuggling operation in the Mediterranean sea, known as Operation Sophia, has entered its operational phase, aimed at boarding and seizing vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling and trafficking. The operational phase follows the first phase, launched June 22, which in
One of Australia’s Huon class Mine Hunters, HMAS Yarra, continues to play an integral part of Exercise DUGONG 15. The exercise, conducted in Hobart between 5-16 October, has successfully tested the interoperability capabilities of the Navy in the conduct of mine counter measures, clearance diving an
Belgian Navy’s frigate Leopold I officially joined EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia on October 10. The Belgian ship will work together with the other ships already deployed in the region. On 7 October, as announced by the EU Political and Security Committee, Operation EUNAVFOR MED – Operation Sophia mo
