This week the crew of a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) P-3 Orion from the Royal New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) completed their support to NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD (OOS) Task Force 508 (CTF-508). Between 13 and 30 November, the NATO partner nation’s detachment of more than 50 cr
The crew of the UK Navy’s HMS Argyll offloaded 840 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated wholesale value of $27.9 million at Coast Guard Sector Key West, Fla, Nov. 29, and an additional 216 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated wholesale value of $7.1 million in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Nov. 25. W
Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Fort Austin has spent the last few weeks in company with HMS Bulwark as part of the Cougar 14 Task Group, sailing from the United Kingdom into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and Red Sea and up into the Gulf. The Ship’s Company has been busy throughout, keeping th
HMS Argyll has dealt another blow to drug smugglers after seizing more than 850 kg of cocaine in a high speed midnight chase. It is the third drugs bust for HMS Argyll in as many months. This latest haul has a wholesale value of £36 million – in total she has now seized 1,600kg of […]
Seven ships of Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group ONE (SNMCMG1), under command of Lithuanian Navy Commander Giedrius Premeneckas, arrived in London for a routine port visit. SNMCMG1 is visiting London as part of the Group’s deployment to enhance maritime security and NATO’s readiness in the r
Australian Defence Force vessels and aircraft have completed monitoring a Russian Surface Task Group that was operating in the Coral Sea to Australia’s north. The Russian ships did not enter Australian territorial waters and have now departed the Coral Sea. The flotilla included Russian Federation S
The Chief of the Hellenic Navy, Vice Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, visited NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) to enhance awareness of MARCOM activities and discuss topics of mutual interest with Commander NATO Allied Maritime Command, Vice Admiral Peter Hudson and the MARCOM staff. During the vi
On Monday 10th November, the EU Naval Force Flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, and the Chinese Flagship CNS Changbaishan met at sea in the Gulf of Aden. The Commander of Chinese Naval Escort Task Group 989, Rear Admiral Zhuang Chuanshu, and the Commanding Officer of CNS Changbaishan, Captain Deng Xianwu, t
Australian Defence is monitoring Russian naval vessels that are currently transiting through international waters to the north of Australia. In accordance with international law, Defence have been monitoring the Russian vessels. Defence regularly undertakes maritime surveillance patrols in the appro
After five years of land-based operations in Afghanistan, the Royal Navy’s Sea King Force has fully returned to sea, flying their helicopters from Royal Navy ships in the Gulf. Whilst operating from Camp Bastion since May 2009, the ‘Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control (SKASaC) Force’, nicknam
Nearly 1,500 Royal Navy sailors, Royal Marines, specialist divers are engaged in the world’s largest naval exercise dealing with the threat of mines. The core of the Royal Navy’s presence in the Middle East has joined more than 5,000 military personnel from more than 40 nations spread across six con
The Royal Moroccan Navy’s high-tech frigate Tarik Ben Ziyad has returned to the Damen Shipyards Group for its first routine dry-docking after three years of operation. The SIGMA multi-mission frigate 10513 – built at Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) in the Netherlands – arrived at Damen Shipr
Kership, a jointly owned company between French firms Piriou and DCNS, recently received an order for two offshore patrol vessels from the Gabonese Navy. One of the vessels, a modernized 54m patrol vessel of the P400 class, is expected to be delivered in mid-2015, while the other vessel, a 58m offsh
U.S. 6th Fleet’s command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), returned to its homeport of Gaeta, Italy, following routine operations to the Black Sea, Oct. 31. During the underway, Mount Whitney made port visits to Batumi, Georgia; Constanta, Romania; and Burgas, Bulgaria. The ship’s presenc
