A French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft conducted its first ever operational flight as part of EUNAVFOR’s Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia on June 7. An upgraded version of the Breguet Atlantic that made its first flight in 1961, Atlantique 2 is joining four other aircraft from Spain,
Australian shipbuilders Austal and ASC Shipbuilding announced they are teaming up for the construction of the Australian Navy’s SEA5000 Future Frigates. Under this arrangement, ASC Shipbuilding and Austal will act as one in support of the program, combining their skills and experience. “The Austal/A
The Western Pacific Naval Symposium Diving Exercise (WPNS-DIVEX) 2017, a disaster response-focused exercise organized by the Nine Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) nations, started on June 5 in Guam. Western Pacific Naval Symposium Diving Exercise 2017 is a biennial diving exercise conducted by
Defense forces from Australia and Indonesia concluded the coordinated maritime patrol AUSINDO CORPAT 2017 on Monday in Darwin, Australia. The joint operation, aimed at stopping illegal fishing and improving regional security, began in Benoa, Bali on 27 May and covered waters between Australia and In
The Royal Australian Navy commissioned its second Australian Defence Vessel (ADV), ‘Cape Inscription’, during a ceremony on June 6. ADV Cape Inscription was officially named in Henderson and had the Australian White Ensign hoisted on it for the first time. The two Cape-class patrol boats for the nav
A recent dive on the wreck of the Royal Australian Navy’s World War II cruiser HMAS Perth revealed that due to illegal salvage activity, only 40 percent of the vessel is in place. The findings are the result of a joint dive conducted by maritime archaeologists from the Australian National Maritime M
The U.S. Marine Corps is starting an overhaul of its open water safety craft (OWSC) this year under the Enterprise Life Cycle Maintenance Program. This is the first round of major maintenance for the OWSC, which has been in service since 2006, and is used as an emergency vessel during waterborne tra
Construction of Australia’s new antarctic supply research vessel (ASRV) started in Romania with a steel-cutting ceremony on May 31. Dutch shipbuilder Damen is in charge of constructing the vessel at its Galati, Romania, shipyard. The shipbuilder is constructing the ASRV for Serco Defence, a subsidia
After concluding amphibious drills with U.S. Marines off Guam recently, French Navy ships FS Mistral and FS Courbet trained with Australian and Spanish Navy ships in Australian waters. The French ships engaged Australian ships Success and Parramatta and the Spanish Navy’s Cristobal Colon in waters t
In the second attack on commercial vessels in just two days, pirates attempted to hijack oil tanker MT NAVIG8 Providence in the Arabian Sea on June 1. The incident, confirmed by EU NAVFOR, took place in the Gulf of Oman as the MT NAVIG8 Providence was sailing 100 nautical miles east of Muscat. Accor
The final Australian-developed Nulka missile decoy was delivered to the Australian Navy by BAE Systems in April, after three decades of service to Australia, the United States and Canada. Once launched, Nulka can fly a pre-programmed flight path to entice sea-skimming missiles away from a ship. It h
Three men in a skiff approached a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the southern Bab-el-Mandeb strait and opened fire on it on May 31, EU NAVFOR has confirmed. The vessel’s master reported that the attackers fired three rocket-propelled grenades, before breaking off the attack. The onboard arme
After three months of operations, personnel from this year’s Pacific Partnership mission returned to Singapore USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) on May 31. Their return marked the conclusion of this year’s mission. Fall River departed Singapore on March 4 and served as the command platform for the Pacific P
Royal Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Wollongong participated in a four-day exercise with the Republic of Fiji Navy ship Kula during a recent visit to Fiji. Wollongong is on a South West Pacific deployment, which includes visits to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, as part of the Aust
