The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense has deployed a 12-man strong vessel boarding team to the European Union-led operation Sophia aimed at curbing human and arms smuggling activity in the Mediterranean Sea. The team embarked the German Navy tender FGS Rhein on March 6 during a ceremony at Lithuanian N
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer Choi Young officially joined operation Atalanta welcoming aboard the operation’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas during a joint counter-piracy patrol off the coast of Somalia. The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer joined EU NAV
Two Royal Navy Merlins have embarked French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral, the lead ship of French Navy task group, for the French annual Jeanne d’Arc deployment. The five-month amphibious deployment will take the force – which includes the frigate Courbet – as far east as Japan and Guam, as fa
Austrian Jagdkommandos, an Austrian Armed Forces’ Special Operations group, will embark German Navy tender ‘Main’ on March 2 to support EU’s counter-smuggling mission in the Mediterranean Sea. An official send-off ceremony for the Jagdkommandos took place in the Roßauer barracks in Vienna on Februar
Warships from New Zealand, Spain and Italy will all be joining Royal Australian Navy ships for one of Australia’s largest maritime warfare exercises. More than 17 ships and aircraft are gathering on the Western Australian coast for the inaugural exercise Ocean Explorer. The Spanish Armada’s ESPS Cri
Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas assumed the role of force commander of the European Union’s counter-piracy operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa. Rojas assumed command on board his flagship, ESPS Galicia, during a ceremony held in Djibouti on Friday. Djibouti is a
Spanish Navy’s Navantia-built frigate ESPS Cristóbal Colón arrived in Perth, Australia with the aim of integrating into the Royal Australian Navy. Apart from training and navy to navy engagements, another reason for the F-100 frigate to visit Australia was the fact that Spanish shipbuilder Navantia
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Choi Young will be joining operation Atalanta, an EU-led counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia, in March this year. The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer will work with EU NAVFOR warships to prevent acts of piracy that plagued the waters off the c
The Hellenic Navy’s Type 209 submarine HS Poseidon will be joining the EUNAVFOR operation in the Mediterranean Sea from February 15, the ministry of defense announced. HS Poseidon will spend some two weeks contributing to EU’s mission of saving lives and preventing human and arms smuggling in the Me
Italian Navy amphibious transport dock ITS San Giorgio wrapped up her participation in the EU-led operation Sophia and headed home on February 14. ITS San Giorgio had been part of the maritime group from October 22, 2016, and was in charge of training Libyan Coast Guard and Navy personnel in no-comb
One French ship was replaced by another in the Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia after FS Commandant Bouan took over from FS Commandant Ducuing on February 6. Both ships are D’Estienne d’Orves-class avisos most commonly used for anti-submarine defence and high sea escort missions. Commandant Ducuin
Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey returmed home to Portsmouth on Friday completing a 13-month mission supporting efforts to tackle people trafficking and drug smuggling. The River-class patrol ship left Portsmouth in January 2016, heading for the Caribbean before travelling east to the Mediterranean
During her port call in Adelaide, Italian FREMM frigate ITS Carabiniere welcomed the Australian minister for defense Christopher Pyne on board on February 5. Pyne toured the Italian frigate ITS Carabiniere as it visited South Australia on a four-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific to support naval
Navy ships from Australia, Great Britain, France and the U.S. concluded their participation in the multi-national exercise Unified Trident that was held in the Persian Gulf. More than 15 ships, plus numerous aircraft from the four navies completed many different evolutions from January 31 to Februar
