UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary, RFA Lyme Bay is heading for home having completed a 32 day tour of duty with Operation Atalanta – the European Union’s counter piracy operation off the coast of Somalia. RFA Lyme Bay departed the UK in mid August to form part of the Cougar 2013 Response Force Task Group (RF
In the early morning of Tuesday 19 November, EU Naval Force warship ITS Libeccio carried out a replenishment at sea (RAS) with the American auxiliary ship, USNS Arctic. The RAS, which was conducted in coordination with the US Fast Combat Support Ship, required the two ships to sail very close togeth
On Wednesday, 20 November 2013, NATO`s Operation OCEAN SHIELD flagship HNoMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN conducted boarding and medical exercises together with the flagship of ROK Escort Task Group, ROKS CHOI YOUNG. Boarding teams from both ships simulated boarding NANSEN, providing important insight into each
On Thursday, 21 November 2013, NATO and the Ukrainian Navy formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding sealing the country’s participation in the Alliance’s counter-piracy operation OCEAN SHIELD. This event occurred as the Chief of the Ukrainian Navy, Admiral Yurii Ilin, is attending the NATO Mari
Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC), a joint venture between DRS Technologies and Thales, successfully demonstrated advanced mine-hunting capabilities with the US Navy during the 2013 Fleet Experimentation (FLEX) Unmanned Systems (UxS) Campaign. By towing the unmanned high resolution synthetic aperture
General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co.(NASSCO) has received a $12.1 million worth contract modification to exercise the option for the fitting-out availability of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, the USS Somerset (LPD 25). The contract includes engineering, planning, manage
HNLMS Johan de Witt and RFA Lyme Bay have participated in the US led international exercise ‘Cutlass Express’. The exercise, which was held in several operational areas in the waters off East Africa, is a maritime exercise, designed to improve cooperation, tactical expertise and information sharing
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus completed a visit to Doha, Qatar, Nov. 20. The visit was designed to build upon an existing relationship with Qatar, an important partner in the Middle East region. “Qatar is and remains a very valuable American partner,” said Mabus. “In our cooperation on a wide rang
Earlier this week during a port-call at Dar es Salaam the Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel ESPS ‘Meteoro’, as part of the EU Naval Froce (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta has carried out a series of trainings with personnel from the Tanzanian Navy as part of the Local Maritime Capacity Building (LMC
The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 2 departed Norfolk to begin Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX)Nov. 20. COMPTUEX is a series of training exercises designed to certify the carrier strike group deployment-ready by testing its ability to react to real-world scenarios and perform
More than twenty destroyers, corvettes, frigates, submarines and patrol vessels from four different NATO nations have taken part in the Turkish exercise ‘Dogu Akdeniz 2013’ in the Eastern Mediterranean. The exercise contemplated an asymmetric threat scenario where the participating units trained in
For two days, 20 Heads of Navy, 54 international delegations and 127 distinguished guests; including General Philip Breedlove USA AF, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, will gather under the auspices of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the maritime
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson returned Nov. 15 from an official visit to the People’s Republic of China. During the four-day visit, Adm. Ferguson held discussions with senior leaders of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA(N)) and visited several PLA(N) ships, including the 7,5
The Netherlands is to continue participating in the counterpiracy mission off the coast of Somalia for another year, until the end of 2014. This was decided by the government last week. From February to mid-May, the Netherlands will deploy the air-defence and command (ADC) frigate HNLMS Evertsen for
