German Navy’s replenishment oiler Rhön is set to return to its homeport in Wilhelmshaven after completing a two-month deployment to NATO’s standing maritime group 1 (SNMG1). Rhön is scheduled to enter harbor on November 30 after spending 57 days at sea and sailing 9,000 nautical miles. The ship depa
Royal Navy’s Type 4 destroyer HMS Duncan had to be towed back to Devonport after experiencing a breakdown off Plymouth. According to a report by the Plymouth Herald, a Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed this saying the ship had experienced “technical issues”. The ship was towed back to port on
The Albanian Navy joined it’s first-ever NATO maritime mission by deploying its patrol boat ALS Oriku to Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 on Monday. The vessel will support NATO activities in the Aegean Sea as part of the international efforts to stop illegal trafficking and migration. ALS Oriku is an
Secretary of the U.S. Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus visited sailors and marines assigned to USS Makin Island (LHD 8) and the 11th marine expeditionary unit (MEU) while the ship was pierside in Singapore, November 22. Mabus opened the event with an all-hands call, lauding the sailors and marines aboard Mak
A detachment of 20 Royal Danish Air Force officers and enlisted service members took flight in their aircraft from the Seychelles one last time on November 19 marking the end of their deployment. The Royal Danish Air Force Challenger CL-604 was deployed to NATO standing Operation Ocean Shield. The D
Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 left Devonport Naval Base on Monday after a routine visit. The international group, currently comprising ships from the Royal Navy and the Spanish and Portuguese navies and a German auxiliary tanker berthed in HM Naval Base Plymouth last week. SNMG 1 now s
The crew of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke have started a period of training under direction of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) after completing a maintenance period. This period marks the end of her busy operational period in the first half of 2016, which saw the ship deploy as par
Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has announced an expansion project now underway at its waterfront shipbuilding complex in Franklin, Louisiana. The expansion is being undertaken to accommodate increased production needs, the company said. Metal Shark is erecting a fully-enclosed 200’ x 80’ la
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract worth up to $86 million to provide management, engineering, maintenance, and IT support services for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) at Wallops Island, Virginia. Under the contract, BAE Systems will integrate various mission equipment
A UK Defence Committee Report has said that the Ministry of Defence will have to devise a sound plan for replacing its 13 ageing frigates while maintaining the already low number of operational vessels in the fleet. The report calls for the National Shipbuilding Strategy, due to be published this we
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) arrived in Aksaz, Turkey, to attend pre-sail and planning conferences for exercise Mavi Balina 16. Mavi Balina 16 is a Turkish-led maritime exercise involving NATO and regional forces in the Eastern Mediterranean to improve interoperabili
Sailors aboard Australian frigate HMAS Darwin and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver carried out boarding drills while they were en route to Auckland for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th Anniversary International Naval Review. That was before both ships were retasked to assist the New Zealand with the
Huntington Ingalls Industries launched the U.S. Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), on November 12. The ship was named in honor of Paul Robert Ignatius, who served as secretary of the Navy under President Lyndon Johnson from 1967 to 1969. T
Dredging operators found an unexploded WWII bomb in the Portsmouth Harbour while they were preparing the port for the arrival of the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth- class aircraft carriers. The latest discovery, which occurred in the morning hours of November 16, brings the total number of histori
