Royal Fleet Auxiliary Mounts Bay unloaded military personnel, trucks and heavy equipment onto the Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, for the first stop of the dock landing ship’s deployment to the Caribbean. Swimmers, sunbathers and holidaymakers looked on as the 16,000-ton RFA Mounts Bay moored off th
The UK should no longer delay ordering new naval vessels if it wants to be able to protect the world’s merchant fleet, Guy Platten, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, writes. Platten argues that the security of the UK and its trading economy depend on the Royal Navy’s ability to protect the global m
Royal Navy’s Sandown-class minehunter HMS Shoreham returned home after being deployed for three months to Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group One, operating mostly in the Baltic. For the first time, families and friends joined their loved ones on board the Royal Navy mine hunter, HMS Shoreham,
Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay took over UK’s North Atlantic patrol duties from RFA Wave Knight during a port visit to the Lesser Antilles port of Fort-de-France in Martinique. Handing over the baton to Mounts Bay, RFA Wave Knight wrapped up a 13 month deployment which has seen the ship sail
Improving maritime operations center processes which represent the essential decision-making capability of an exercise has been one of the main priorities of the Ukranian-hosted Black Sea drill Sea Breeze 2017. Ukrainians and their international partners are working deliberately to increase the comb
Italian Navy frigate ITS Espero is en route to her homeport after over two months of counter-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa as part of the EUNAVFOR operation Atalanta. During her 108-day deployment ITS Espero’s ship’s company helped deter and suppress pirate attacks which started again in 201
U.S.-based boat builder Metal Shark has entered a partnership with Dutch shipbuilder Damen for the construction of up to 13 near coastal patrol vessels (NCPV) for South American countries. Metal Shark was contracted by the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command in June this year to build the boats for Domin
Defense forces from 17 countries are attending the multinational Black Sea exercise Sea Breeze which is taking place from July 10 to 22, in Ukraine. The exercise is co-hosted by the U.S. and Ukraine and will involve air, land, sea, and amphibious forces. The annual recurring multinational exercise i
The Royal Navy’s Gibraltar base has welcomed back fast patrol boat HMS Scimitar which returned from a refit period. Since late April HMS Scimitar was dry-docked for her annual survey and refit period (ASRP), a six-week programme of repair and refurbishment to keep her running smoothly. The work pack
As part of an agreement between the European Union and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Damen Shipyards Group has delivered two SAR 1906 vessels to the Turkish Coast Guard. The two vessels – the first to be delivered in what is a six-vessel contract – will be mobilised in refugee
More than 128,000 tonnes of water has been pumped out from one of Portsmouth Naval Base’s dry docks to make way for Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans. The ship is undergoing essential repair works following her nine-month deployment – the process of which is made easier by removing all the water surroun
As part of her counter-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia, EU NAVFOR’s Italian warship, ITS Espero, has an Agusta-Bell AB 212 helicopter embarked. This highly capable helicopter provides the commanding officer with much-needed versatility, speed and range, as well as an intelligence-gathering c
Russian Navy’s advanced Project 20380 corvette, the Sovershenny, has taken the Ka-27 helicopter aboard during the recent official tests, according to TASS. The Ka-27 antisubmarine search and rescue helicopter landed over 20 times on the corvette during the day and night while the corvette was in mot
Norwegian shipbuilder Bergen Group Services announced it has received a one-year contract extension for the service of Royal Norwegian Navy vessels, less than a month after losing a NOK 700 million (approx. $83 million) contract for the upkeep of Nansen-class frigates. On June 22, Norwegian Armed Fo
