Ships assigned to the EU-led operation Sophia will be welcoming a new fleet tender to their group once the German Navy ship Rhein sets sail for the Mediterranean Sea. FGS Rhein is scheduled to depart its homeport in Kiel on March 21 and head toward the Mediterranean where she will help save lives an
Canada’s Irving Shipbuilding is investing in marine innovation and commercialization in Nova Scotia and across Canada. The company announced on Thursday it is funding $4.52 million in the newly established Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), an ocean innovation centre to be locate
For the first time since 2012, Somali pirates hijacked a tanker on March 13 off the coast of Somalia, the EU Naval Force counter-piracy operation has confirmed. The authorities said they received positive confirmation from the master of the Comoros-flagged tanker, Aris 13, that his ship and crew are
Royal Navy warships in Plymouth hosted some 270 international students from the UK’s military leadership college for an insight into the professionalism of the senior service. A two-day dynamic demonstration of the Royal Navy’s capability was staged off the South West coast by warships HMS Dragon (P
Having wrapped up her participation in the Australian Navy exercise Ocean Explorer on March 5, Italian Navy FREMM frigate ITS Carabiniere headed for Jakarta, Indonesia as part of her deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. The Carlo Bergamini-class frigate arrived in Jakarta on March 9 and hosted the
Royal Australian Navy’s fleet replenishment tanker HMAS Sirius is preparing to return to the fleet following a four-month maintenance period at Captain Graving Dock, Garden Island. The ship recently sailed out of Sydney Harbour and into the Pacific Ocean for sea trials. She will return to Sydney bri
French Navy’s D’Estienne d’Orves-class aviso FS Commandant Birot replaced its sister ship FS Commandant Bouan in the EUNAVFOR-led operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea on March 10. FS Commandant Bouan earlier took over from FS Commandant Ducuing and served the counter smuggling mission from Febr
U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) visited Australia’s largest navy base HMAS Stirling on March 7. Oklahoma City visited the Fleet Base West, Western Australia, during its regular Indo-Asia-Pacific deployment. With a crew of approximately 150, the submarine wi
Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac-class frigate HMAS Stuart is set to complete her anti-ship missile defense upgrade this week, marking the completion of an Australian Navy capability upgrade program that spanned seven years. Completion of works on HMAS Stuart was announced by contractor BAE Systems who
European and Chinese counter-piracy task group commanders met in the Gulf of Aden during their regular patrols. The force commander of the European Union’s operation Atalanta, Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas, welcomed Rear Admiral Zhao Jicheng, commander of the Chinese
Members of the Slovak military police have traveled to Germany to prepare for their deployment to the EUNAVFOR-led Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia. A team of 10 have been training with German Navy Marines (Seebatallion) since January 30 and will spend the rest of this month preparing for the depl
Australian shipbuilder Austal opened a new shipbuilding facility that will be used for the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) programme. Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne MP officially opened the facility at Naval Base, West Australia in a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 8.
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
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission Pacific Partnership 2017 made its initial mission stop in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on March 7 with the arrival of the United States Navy’s expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF-4). This is also the first mission to Sri
