After spending almost five months operating with the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta off Somalia, German frigate FGS Niedersachsen is heading home. During its time with Operation Atalanta, FGS Niedersachsen sailed a total of 26,000 nautical miles and conducted daily counter piracy patrols to
Italian warship ITS Libeccio has reached the half way point in its four month deployment with the European Union Naval Force, operating off Somalia. ITS Libeccio, which has 237 sailors on board, took over counter piracy duties from another Italian warship, ITS Zeffiro on 6 October 2013. Having now s
Not a single ship was seized by pirates during the Royal Navy’s three-month spell in command of a task force patrolling the Indian Ocean for modern-day buccaneers. The ships of Combined Task Force 151 also succeeded in hunting down one pirate action group after the raiders’ two failed attempts to hi
Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaydachnyi, participating in the NATO Ocean Shield counter-piracy operation, completed its fourth patrolling in the Gulf of Aden and on December 4 the ship entered the Salalah port (Oman). On this occasion, some servicemen got awards for their decisive actions and professi
On Friday 6 December, Commodore Peter Lenselink (Royal Netherlands Navy) handed over the Force Command of EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta to Contre Amiral Hervé Bléjean (French Navy) during a Change of Command ceremony held on board HNLMS Johan de Witt in the Port of Djibouti.
Last week, two ships from Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2) passed through the Suez Canal en route to taking command of NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD. SNMG2 flagship ESPS ALVARO DE BAZAN and Turkish frigate TCG GELIBOLU will soon join the Ukraine frigate UPS HETMAN SAGAIDACHNY
The Mayport community welcomed over 350 new neighbors to Northeast Florida when the USS New York (LPD 21) changed homeport from Naval Station Norfolk to Naval Station Mayport Dec. 6. USS New York is one of three ships that make up Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)the Navy is moving from Norfolk,
Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) prepared themselves for a safe winter holiday period by attending a command safety standdown at the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau in Virginia Beach, Va., Dec. 5. Ike’s Safety department sponsored the saf
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) announced the winners of the 2013 Chief Engineer (CHENG) awards honoring excellence in engineering, science and technical authority, Dec. 5. The CHENG awards are presented annually to recognize engineering, science and technical authority achievements and
Cardiff based P2000 HMS Exploit has returned to the front line Fleet after a period of refit in Holyhead. HMS Exploit successfully finished her Annual Slip and Repair Period at Holyhead Boatyard which sees her ready for another busy year of high tempo URNU operations. Starting as she means to go on,
The U.S. Coast Guard interdicted a panga boat with 201 bales of marijuana and two suspected smugglers aboard approximately 140 miles southwest of San Diego, Monday evening. After a Sacramento-based Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules patrol aircraft detected the 30-foot boat around 3:40 p.m., the Coast Guar
Sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5 partnered with members of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) for the bi-annual Miata Exercise that kicked off at U.S. Naval Base Guam Dec. 3. The joint training builds interoperability between the two EOD groups who have a continued wo
On Tuesday 3 December, Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel, ESPS Tornado joined the European Union’s counter piracy task force operating off the coast of Somalia. The warship will be part of the EU Naval Force for four months as Spain’s contribution to Operation Atalanta. Commissioned in 2012, ESPS Tornado
Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. (SPA) has been awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide world class modeling and simulation services in support of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) Assessment Division (N81). The services