The Panamanian Navy is host to this year’s iteration of exercise UNITAS which is attended by the United States, Panama, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and the United Kingdom. The ten-day exercise kicked off September 18 and will includ
Royal Netherlands Navy offshore patrol ship HNLMS Groningem has seized two tonnes of cocaine after intercepting a small fishing boat in the Caribbean Sea. Five crew members were detained and transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard together with the found contraband. A U.S. maritime reconnaissance plane
Naval units taking part in the Australian-hosted multinational maritime exercise have sailed out of Darwin to begin the sea phase of Exercise Kakadu. The ships separated into three multi-national task groups once outside the harbor and will spend the next eight days undertaking a graduated program o
U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) reached the halfway point of its Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) September 13, pierside at Naval Air Station North Island. PIA is a reoccurring part of a ship’s life cycle, scheduled approximately every 36 months. It’s
Ships assigned to the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHR ESG), with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, joined the U.S. military exercise Valiant Shield 2016, on September 15. Valiant Shield is a biennial exercise held between the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force in an effor
Following a request for information (RFI) for its Squadron 2020 project to construct four ice-going offshore patrol vessels, the Finnish Navy has now signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Rauma-based shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions. If the LOI is realized, the company will build f
The U.S. Navy’s newest destroyer, future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk September 14 for another port visit on the 3-month journey to its new homeport in San Diego. Crewed by 147 sailors, Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers design
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded Ocean Power Technologies a contract to design a new mass-spring oscillating PowerBuoy for mission critical sensors for the U.S. Navy. Under the approx. $250,000 contract, OPT is to design a PowerBuoy which will differ from the current PB3 type in t
Pakistan’s Karachi Shipyard announced it would launch the nation’s third Azmat-class (FAC) corvette on September 17. Construction of the 63 meter multi-mission, fast attack craft started in April 2015 while keel laying took place five months later on August 11. The ship displaces 560 tons and, accor
HMAS Hobart, the first of three Royal Australian Navy Aegis-equipped air warfare destroyers, has started builder’s sea trials leaving ASC’s Osborne, South Australia shipyard for the first time. A number of alongside dock trials in preparation for Hobart’s first departure to sea were carried out, inc
The first of two SIGMA 10514 PKR naval frigates for the Indonesian Navy has completed its sea trials, Dutch shipbuilder Damen has informed. The assessment phase began with seven days of basin trials to ensure that the propulsion and safety systems were fully operational before the vessel made the pa
U.S. ships and aircraft used live fire munition to sink a decommissioned U.S. Navy guided missile frigate in waters 30,000 feet deep and 117 nautical miles northeast of Guam on September 13. The boat sank in five hours after sustaining 22 missile hits, finally succumbing to hellfire missiles shots b
The Royal Australian Navy recently completed Black Carillon 16, a three week submarine escape and rescue exercise off the Western Australian coast. This year’s iteration of the exercise is the 15th in a series of Navy submarine escape and rescue exercises, designed to practice and prove established
U.S Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) pulled into Toulon, France for a scheduled port visit September 13. While in port, Ross plans on conducting a community relations project and hosting a tour of the ship. Toulon will be Ross’ fifth port visit since getting unde
