1. January US Navy to Deploy Third Carrier Group to Persian Gulf The US will dispatch another carrier strike group led by USS Enterprise to the Persian Gulf in March 2012, reported US Navy on Jan 25. The carrier group based in Norfolk, VA will also include a guided missile cruiser and three [&hell
Britain’s newest operational warship HMS Diamond traded places with HMS Monmouth as the latter relieved the Type 45 destroyer as the Royal Navy’s Gulf guardian. The two ships met up in the Gulf of Aden, where Diamond formally handed over responsibilities to the Black Duke before beginning the long r
During the night on 21 November, French warship FS Dupleix, operating as part of the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) – Operation Atalanta, was patrolling along the northern coast of Somalia, when she was directed by the EU NAVFOR flagship to provide assistance to a Yemeni dhow – ‘Al Fahad’. T
On June 12th, EU Naval Force rescued a small fishing boat on the northern coast of Somalia. In the afternoon of June 12th, EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Italian frigate Scirocco rescued a small fishing boat (skiff type) in distress with two Somali fishermen coming from the town of Alula, on the norther
Last Saturday, 19 May, USS TAYLOR detected a drifting dhow with no propulsion while patrolling off the Horn of Africa in support of NATO’s counter piracy Operation Ocean Shield. The dhow named NAHDA was found by USS TAYLOR right at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden. After sending a team onboard NAHDA
HMS Dauntless played a key part in helping to keep the waters off West Africa safe during a major international exercise. The Portsmouth-based destroyer joined warships and personnel from ten other nations off Senegal for Exercise Saharan Express aimed at dealing with the enduring threats of people
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company has announced that AgustaWestland North America, Inc. has delivered AW139 aircraft to the Egyptian Air Force via its contract with U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) Contracting Center for Foreign Military Sales. “We’re fully aware of the team it ta
The Algerian Defence Ministry has sent a letter to the German manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Marine SystemsKrupp (TKMS), in relation to the Contract No. 674/889, signed on March 26, 2012, confirming the purchase of two Meko A200 frigates. This purchase represents a part of modernization of Algerian naval
On Thursday 29th March Spanish warship ESPS INFANTA ELENA, operating as part of the European counter piracy force (EUNAVFOR), came to the aid of a Somali fishing vessel, adrift off the coast of Mogadishu. INFANTA ELENA was patrolling the waters off the coast of Somalia as part of its mission to dete
Following his posting as Commander of the UK Counter-Piracy Task Group, Captain Gerry Northwood, Royal Navy, has written in The Times newspaper about how concerted efforts are helping reduce attacks on merchant vessels. Captain Northwood writes: “Eleven pirates on board with automatic weapons and ro
A U.S. Coast Guard ship, assigned to Commander, Task Force (CTF) 55, rendered aid to six Iranian mariners from a distressed vessel in the North Arabian Gulf, Jan. 10. At approximately 3 a.m. local time, Island-Class Patrol Boat USCGC Monomoy (WPB-1326) operating in the area; when it was hailed by fl
On 11 November, the Yemeni dhow AL JABAL was handed-over by the Commanding Officer of the FGS KOELN to the Yemen Coast Guard for return to its owner after it had been stolen to be used as a pirate mother-ship. The dhow had been taken by a group of Somali pirates and was detected in […]
Marines from large ASW ship Severomorsk released Greek tanker United Emblem captured by pirates on Sept 10, told Mikhail Voitenko, Maritime Bulletin‘s editor. Full-loaded tanker United Emblem was sailing from port of Fujairah to Marseille. On Sept 10 at 6.27 am (GMT) the tanker’s crew sent distress
U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68) aided a stranded Somali skiff and returned it to shore, Aug. 13. On Aug. 12, a SH-60B helicopter from the Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron, Light (HSL) 46 ‘Grandmasters,’ assigned to Anzio, spotted the small skiff approximately 45 miles from shore
