On 21 of January, the Force Commander of the EU Naval Force, Rear Admiral Guido Rando, hosted on board his flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, the Commander of the Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151), Rear Admiral Wanich Pakorn. Rear Admiral Pakorn was accompanied by his Public Affairs Officer, Commander Komo
Royal Navy’s survey ship HMS Enterprise captured images of what appears to be two large mountains, which are actually underwater scans of the seabed off the coast of Northern Africa. The larger of the two seamounts, the technical name for underwater mountains, was measured at 1100m which is taller t
Chinese Warships Dock in Portsmouth, UK Three Chinese Naval ships were given a rapturous welcome as they arrived in Portsmouth for a formal visit aimed at enhancing military understanding between the UK and China. Damen Completes Build of Two FCS 5009 Patrol Vessels Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT)
Representatives from international counter-piracy organisations, as well as nations deploying warships independently, have gathered in Bahrain to discuss how they can best work together to combat the threat posed to shipping by criminal gangs from Somalia. NATO chaired the 34th Shared Awareness and
The incoming Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) maritime security and counter-terrorism task force, Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), conducted successful staff talks with the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) Command in Naples, Italy, on 1 December 2014. During the visit, C
This week the crew of a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) P-3 Orion from the Royal New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) completed their support to NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD (OOS) Task Force 508 (CTF-508). Between 13 and 30 November, the NATO partner nation’s detachment of more than 50 cr
The Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, Major General Martin Smith MBE, visited the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr Koji Sekimizu, at the IMO headquarters in London on Wednesday 26 November. Meeting to discuss the current situation off the Horn of Africa
East African nations have a significant challenge ahead. The past few years have seen an encouraging decline in the volume of maritime piracy incidents that once dominated headlines with tales of hostage taking and freight ship hijacking, particularly in the Gulf of Aden and further south into the S
On 19 and 20 November, during her recent port visit to Dar Es Salam, EU Naval Force warship BNS Leopold I hosted members of the Tanzanian Navy in support of EUCAP Nestor’s initiative to conduct Local Maritime Capability Building (LMCB). On the first day, BNS Leopold I’s crew organised several worksh
The future Commander of Combined Maritime Forces Task Force 150 (CTF-150), Commodore Brian Santarpia (CAN N), visited NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) to discuss coordination and interaction with NATO forces in the Indian Ocean. During the visit, Commodore Santarpia met with MARCOM Deputy Comma
HMAS Toowoomba has intercepted a vessel carrying approximately 388 kilograms of heroin in international waters off the east coast of Africa. The drug seizure on 17 November 2014 was part of a determined multi-national campaign to disrupt drug smuggling in the Indian Ocean, profits from which provide
EU Naval Force Dutch frigate, HNLMS Van Speijk, has escorted a World Food Programme (WFP) vessel along the Somali coast to keep it safe from a potential pirate attack. The WFP ship was carrying food such as soya, cooking oil and flour from Mombasa in Kenya to the Somali port of Kismayo. The food wil
Maritime professionals from South and East Africa, Europe, Indian Ocean nations and the U.S. met to begin finalizing plans for the fourth iteration of Cutlass Express 2015, Nov. 18. The three-day planning event seeks to finalize exercise scenarios, participant force offerings, schedule of events, an
Indian Navy, Brazilian Navy and South African Navy concluded Exercise IBSAMAR IV on November 7, 2014 at Cape Town Harbour. The exercise was divided into five (5) stages, stage one was mobilization week which was the mobilization of forces in the exercise areas namely Silvermine Complex and Naval Bas
