On Wednesday, 28 August 2013, the historical ordnance disposal operation Open Spirit 2013 ended in the east Baltic. During the ten-day operation twelve ships and four EOD teams from eight nations searched the sea bed for underwater explosives. During this time SNMCMG1 covered the area of 24 square n
These dramatic images show Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Wave Knight sailing alongside the US Coastguard cutter Forward 911 and her helicopter while on her North Atlantic deployment. The aircraft came aboard Wave Knight for a flying exercise as USCGC Forward (of Portsmouth, Virginia) made a port stop.
Significant Royal Navy assets supported this year’s Bournemouth Air Festival which took place between Thurs Aug 29 and Sunday, September 1. Among the largest number of ships ever assembled for the event were the Type-23 frigate HMS Northumberland and Mine-hunters HMS Blyth and HMS Brocklesby. In the
On Friday 30 August, Commodore Peter Lenselink and members of his staff visited German frigate FGS Niedersachsen, which is currently part of the EU’s counter piracy task force off the coast of Somalia. During his visit, Commodore Lenselink visited the different departments on board and met members o
The yard sea trials of tugboat “MB-92” (building No 503, project PE-65) the first tugboat from the series of four tugboats of project PE -65, built by Pella Shipyard for the Russian Navy have been successfully completed. Assignment: towing of vessels and floating objects in harbor areas and open sea
Spanish frigate ‘Blas de Lezo’ left the Military Arsenal of Ferrol to begin the second phase of her deployment as command ship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2). The Spanish Navy warship had previously departed Ferrol on June 4th to integrate into this Standing Escorts Group in the Mediterr
Under cover of darkness the first landing craft stealthily departed HMS Bulwark marking the start of exercise Albanian Lion. Over the course of four days hundreds of Royal Marines, supported by Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels as well as elements of the Army, will enter a fictional natio
Two ships deployed on Cougar 13 have met up mid Mediterranean for a swap of supplies vital to the operation. With over 45,000 tonnes of steel between them; HMS Illustrious and Royal Fleet Auxiliary supply ship, RFA Fort Austin, held a straight course while the exchange took place over a distance of
EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta warship ESPS Meteoro recently evacuated a member of the ships crew who had a medical issue. The ship had been conducting counter piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. The ship broke from counter-piracy operations and clo
In the space of just 7 days Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has hosted 4 different types of aircraft during her ongoing operations in the Gulf. One of the Royal Navy’s fleet of brand new air defence warships – Dragon was designed with a flight deck which can accommodate many different types of aircraft
A Royal Navy warship has played a game of cat-and-mouse as part of a high-tempo exercise in the Mediterranean with the Hellenic Navy. HMS Montrose and HS Kanaris took turns to hunt each other down in the dead of night using their respective passive detection systems, finding it equally difficult to
Sailors and staff at HMS Collingwood said goodbye to Commodore Mike Mansergh CBE and welcomed Captain Steve Dainton CBE as he officially took Command of HMS Collingwood and the Maritime Warfare School. Commodore Mansergh handed over the 200-acre Fareham establishment together with the wider aspects
BMT Hi-Q Sigma Ltd (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group, has announced that in partnership with Nuvia Ltd, it has been awarded a 12 month extension contract with the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD). This contract will see both companies continuing to provide technical expertise and programme management s
On Thursday morning, 29 August 2013, three NATO ships assigned to Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group TWO (SNMCMG2) arrived in Sevastopol for a scheduled visit to the Black Sea port. Under the command of Commander Matthias Seipel, German Navy, the Group includes the flagship FGS MOSEL and FGS
