Navantia set afloat, yesterday at 12:00, the first of the series of twelve fast landing crafts that the shipyard is building for the Royal Australian Navy. The design of these ships is based on the ones built by Navantia for the Spanish Navy and commissioned from 2006 to 2008. The contract, signed i
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report into the sinking of a merchant ship at Christmas Island in January 2012 has found that two Royal Australian Navy crews embarked in HMA Ships Leeuwin and Maryborough displayed ‘professionalism and skill’ while helping the merchant sailors abandon their str
At the end of August, HMAS Waller conducted a ceremony in St Georges Channel, Papua New Guinea, to honour and remember the crew of AE1; the Royal Australian Navy’s first Submarine. The ceremony was led by Waller’s Commanding Officer, Commander Micheal Jacobson, CSM, and was attended by all off-watch
On the 13th of August in the Arabian Sea, HMAS Newcastle reaffirmed an old friendship with the British replenishment ship, RFA Fort Victoria. In May, Newcastle’s first Replenishment at Sea (RAS) in the Middle Eastern Area of Operations (MEAO) was with Fort Victoria and the ships met again in Augus
NUSHIP Canberra‘s Command Team have had their first taste of raw LHD ship-handling, albeit at 1:20 scale. Commanding Officer NUSHIP Canberra, Captain Jonathan Sadleir AM, Executive Officer, Commander Jonathan Earley and Navigating Officer, Lieutenant Commander Calvin Johnson, spent four days in Augu
The model, replica Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ship, NUSHIP Assault, has been launched in Port Ash (near Newcastle) this week – ready to be used by NUSHIP Canberra’s Command Team during a professional ship handling course next week. It may seem ironic in this digital age, but the manned model-ship
Eleven passengers, two of whom had to be rushed to a hospital due to dog bites, were successfully rescued by the personnel of Coast Guard Station (CGS) Cuyo from a distressed motor boat one nautical mile from Cuyo Pier in Palawan. The incident was reported to CGS Cuyo last Monday, on 5 August. Accor
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has launched its largest warship since World War II, according to media reports. The Izumo-class helicopter destroyer was officially unveiled at Yokohama on 6 August 2013. This unveiling occurred at a time of heightened tensions over several small disputed i
Tough love, long hours and relentless travel may be what characterises a posting to the Sea Training Group (STG), but so too does passion, patience, adaptability and subject matter expertise, as was observed during HMAS Ballarat’s Unit Readiness Evaluation, from 29 to 30 July. Members of the “Green
On July 23rd, the frigate ‘Numancia’ and the COVAM (Spanish Navy Surveillance and Operations Center) provided support to the Spanish trawler ‘Albacora Cuatro’ in the Indian Ocean. The COVAM received a call from the Spanish trawler informing of an engine breakdown and was sailing adrift. A member of
HMAS Newcastle’s Ship’s Dive Team has earned a ‘Bravo Zulu’ from the Commander Joint Task Force 633 (CJTF633) while in the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO), for conducting a complex underwater evolution to remove an obstruction from the Ship’s main propeller shaft. At sunset on 8 July, Newcastl
Minister for Defence Materiel Dr Mike Kelly AM MP today announced the first of 24 MH-60R Seahawk Romeo helicopters has successfully completed its first test flight. The initial test flight occurred at Sikorsky’s Production Facility, Connecticut USA on 26 June 2013. It passed a range of tests includi
Minister for Defence Materiel Dr Mike Kelly AM MP today announced the final keel block for the future destroyer, Hobart, has been successfully lifted into place by the AWD Alliance in Adelaide. Dr Kelly said the final keel block is the 18th of 31 blocks to be joined into what is rapidly becoming the
The commanding officer and crew of EU Naval Force warship ESPS Numancia have received a heartfelt thank you from the crew of chemical tanker MT Perla, after the Spanish frigate provided assistance to two seriously injured Filipino sailors after they suffered severe burns in a fire on board their mer
