On Thursday, 21 November 2013, NATO and the Ukrainian Navy formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding sealing the country’s participation in the Alliance’s counter-piracy operation OCEAN SHIELD. This event occurred as the Chief of the Ukrainian Navy, Admiral Yurii Ilin, is attending the NATO Mari
HNLMS Johan de Witt and RFA Lyme Bay have participated in the US led international exercise ‘Cutlass Express’. The exercise, which was held in several operational areas in the waters off East Africa, is a maritime exercise, designed to improve cooperation, tactical expertise and information sharing
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus completed a visit to Doha, Qatar, Nov. 20. The visit was designed to build upon an existing relationship with Qatar, an important partner in the Middle East region. “Qatar is and remains a very valuable American partner,” said Mabus. “In our cooperation on a wide rang
Earlier this week during a port-call at Dar es Salaam the Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel ESPS ‘Meteoro’, as part of the EU Naval Froce (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta has carried out a series of trainings with personnel from the Tanzanian Navy as part of the Local Maritime Capacity Building (LMC
The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 2 departed Norfolk to begin Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX)Nov. 20. COMPTUEX is a series of training exercises designed to certify the carrier strike group deployment-ready by testing its ability to react to real-world scenarios and perform
Commodore Paddy McAlpine, Commander United Kingdom Task Group, met his US Navy counterpart, Captain Malcolm Potts, Commander Amphibious Squadron One, in the waters off Djibouti to discuss continuing amphibious interoperability between the two allies. Captain Potts, based on board USS Boxer, and Colo
The Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) returned home to Naval Station Norfolk Nov. 18 marking the successful completion of her nine-month maiden deployment. Gravely deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations Feb. 15. She supported maritime security and theater security opera
Guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) returned to its homeport of San Diego Nov. 18 following the completion of a deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR). Deployed since April 19, the ship and crew of more than 280 Sailors served as the flagship for Destroyer Squadron (D
More than twenty destroyers, corvettes, frigates, submarines and patrol vessels from four different NATO nations have taken part in the Turkish exercise ‘Dogu Akdeniz 2013’ in the Eastern Mediterranean. The exercise contemplated an asymmetric threat scenario where the participating units trained in
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KONGSBERG) has signed a contract for the delivery of Sea PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Stations (RWS) for the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) combat vessels. The contract is entered between the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization (NDLO) and KONGSBERG, represented by the Nav
What began as an isolated Safety-of-Life-at-Sea (SOLAS) operation quickly turned into a coordinated effort between the Canadian ship Edmonton (MM 703), a Kingston Class Mine Countermeasure Ship, and the USS RENTZ (FFG 46) in the U.S. 4th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) During routine Counter Tran
The Netherlands is to continue participating in the counterpiracy mission off the coast of Somalia for another year, until the end of 2014. This was decided by the government last week. From February to mid-May, the Netherlands will deploy the air-defence and command (ADC) frigate HNLMS Evertsen for
USS Freedom (LCS 1) arrived at Brunei’s port of Muara Nov. 18 to take on fuel and supplies in preparation to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in the Philippines. The port visit occurs during the annual bilateral exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Br
During the past week, two European Union missions, EUCAP Nestor and EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta, have worked together on two operations for the benefit of the Somaliland Coast Guard. The first operation involved the transportation and handing over of five 4-wheel-drive vehi
