RFA Lyme Bay has carried out the first of six friendly approaches in the Gulf of Aden. It was the first friendly approach carried out by a UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary Bay Class ship, as part of European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta. The ship’s boat team interacted with the lo
On Saturday, 2 November 2013, NATO`s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD flagship, HNoMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN, hosted a visit from the Republic of Korea Escort Task Group, which is also conducting counter-piracy operations in the area. Captain Sung Mok Choi, Commander of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Nav
The Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, General Knud Bartels, travelled to the Gulf of Aden on 28-30 October 2013 to visit the Ukrainian Navy frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy deployed there as part of Operation Ocean Shield, NATO’s counter-piracy mission. “Ukraine’s ability to plug in and out of NATO’
During the scheduled port-call at Tunis, the frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ (F-101) and the Turkish frigate ‘Salihreis’, integrated into the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), have trained with naval units from the Tunisian Navy. These PASSEX-type exercises are intended to assure that the participa
This past weekend, two NATO ships assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2) paid a visit to the port of Tunis. The port visit provided the crew of the SNMG2 ships a welcome break from the high tempo supporting NATO’s counter-terrorism Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR (OAE), actively deterring t
On Wednesday 16 October 2013, Royal Fleet Auxiliary Landing Ship, RFA Lyme Bay joined Operation Atalanta, as part of the EU’s counter piracy Naval Force off Somalia. RFA Lyme Bay is an amphibious operations support unit, whose primary role is to land troops, vehicles, equipment and stores from the s
EU Naval Force confirmed that on Friday 11 October 2013, a fully laden super tanker, known as a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), was fired upon by eight armed men in two ‘skiffs’ 230 miles off the Somali coast. The attack was successfully repelled by the Armed Security Team on board the super tanker
The frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ (F-101) departed Ferrol yesterday morning towards Barcelona to relieve the frigate ‘Blas de Lezo’ (F-103) as command ship of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2). The SNMG-2 is made up of escorts and logistic ships from different NATO nations. Spanish Navy Rear-a
On Friday 4 October, during their recent visit to the Port of Djibouti, EU Naval Force warship ESPS Meteoro conducted a diving exercise with the Djiboutian Navy and Coastguard, organised in cooperation with EUCAP Nestor. The Djiboutian Forces and EUCAP Nestor team were welcomed on board by the Comma
On Saturday 5 October, the counter piracy Force Commanders from Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), the EU Naval Force and NATO met at sea off the Somali Coast on board the EU Naval Force flagship, HNLMS Johan de Witt. The aim of the meeting was to review the current and future situation concerning pira
The Royal Netherlands Navy landing platform dock HNLMS Rotterdam (L800) arrived in Sekondi, Ghana for a comprehensive set of security-enhancing activities that fall under the international partnership program Africa Partnership Station (APS), Sept. 28. Rotterdam and embarked International Marine Tas
Operation OCEAN SHIELD flagship HNoMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN provided medical assistance to the villagers of Qandala, on the northern coast of Somalia on Thursday, 26 September 2013. The medical assistance was arranged at a meeting between OCEAN SHIELD ship USS DE WERT and Qandala elders earlier in Septemb
A Ukrainian navy frigate is steaming towards the Horn of Africa to join NATO’s counter-piracy mission Operation Ocean Shield after NATO Allies gave their final approval to Ukraine’s participation in the mission. Ukraine will be the first partner nation to join the operation. The North Atlantic Counc
VIDEO: DDG 1000 Zumwalt-Class Destroyer Pending Christening (USA) The christening of the U.S. Navy’s newest guided missile destroyer, Zumwalt (DDG 1000), will take place on Saturday, October 19, 2013 at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 A.M. and is open to the public