On May 17, the Anzac Class Guided Missile Frigate, HMAS Ballarat, began a five-day ship visit to Shanghai, China. Ballarat will be docked at the northern end of Shanghai’s historic Bund from 17-21 May. The visit will involve cultural exchanges and visits to significant icons in Shanghai. The exercis
The EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) frigate Corte-Real recently visited Port Victoria in the Seychelles to perform boat-handling training with the local Coast-Guard. This military cooperation is seen as an important way to improve the counter-piracy capabilities of the Seychelles’ Coast-Guard. The Seyche
HMAS Ballarat (Commanger Jonathan Earley) has been making waves in the South China Seas as part of the maritime component for the annual Five Power Defence Arrangement Exercise – Bersama Shield. Exercise Bersama Shield 12 (Ex BS12) saw Ballarat join forces with Malaysian Frigate KD Lekiu and Singapo
HMS Westminster smashed the actions of three pirate groups in a fortnight – sending the boats to the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The Portsmouth-based warship treated the skiffs to a Viking funeral, blasting them out of the water with her guns and those of her Merlin helicopter. With orange-red flame
Today the Republic of the Seychelles agreed to accept for prosecution 11 suspected pirates who were captured by EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) frigate HNLMS Van Amstel on Friday 11 May. The 11 suspected pirates had pirated an Iranian dhow with 17 innocent Iranian fishermen onboard at the beginning of Ma
The commitment of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia through boosting capacity building in the region has been underlined with the signing of five strategic partnerships with a number of UN agencies and the EU, following a Conference on Capacity B
Defence ties between Australia and Indonesia continue to strengthen with the conclusion of the biennial patrol boat exercise CASSOWARY. Royal Australian Navy Armidale Class Patrol Boats HMA Ships Ararat and Larrakia joined with Indonesian Armed Forces patrol boats KRI Kakap and KRI Tongkol for the e
Chiefs of European Navies (CHENS) have held their annual meeting in Ostend from May 10 to 11, 2012. This event serves as an opportunity for maritime leaders to discuss common interests, define the major themes of research for work and trade, and set forth their findings from the studies undertaken d
Staff from the European Union Naval Force alongside other missions* deployed within the framework of the European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), presented Operation Atalanta to visitors of the EU Open Day on Saturday, 9 May 2012. At the Operation Atalanta stand inside the European Counci
Lockheed Martin successfully demonstrated the latest variant of its new launching system that maximizes the use of existing hardware and electronics to reduce the integration costs of weapons by more than 50 percent. During a May 5 test at the Royal Australian Air Force’s Woomera Test Range in South
There were big smiles all round when four air crew from 723 Squadron dropped in for a special visit to children from Darwin’s family cancer charity Camp Quality. The Squadron’s AS350 Squirrel helicopter landed before a delighted crowd of children, parents and volunteers at the Australian Aviation He
Sailors of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 returned to the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) May 11. Vinson is currently transiting to her homeport in San Diego following a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Mid
Earlier today, following the decision taken on 23 March 2012 by the Council of the European Union to allow the EU Naval Force to take disruption action against known pirate supplies on the shore, EU forces conducted an operation to destroy pirate equipment on the Somali coastline. The operation was
On 11 May EU NAVFOR frigate HNLMS Van Amstel released a fishing dhow and her Iranian crew off the coast of Somalia. The dhow had been pirated 10 days earlier and was being used to carry out pirate attacks on merchant vessels. Yesterday afternoon, during a surveillance flight 400 nautical miles off t
