Royal Australian Navy’s Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate HMAS Melbourne returned to her Sydney homeport on February 28 after 203 days of deployment and five narcotics seizures. In the five interceptions, the frigate seized a total of 977 kg of heroin valued at approximately $390 million. Melbou
Representatives of the U.S. Navy and other Pacific Partnership nations gathered in Singapore February 22-26 for a planning conference in preparations for the 2016-mission. Now in its 11th year, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief prepare
Australian Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence unveiled the long-awaited 2016 Australian Defence White Paper February 25. The plan is set to increase defence spending by AUS $29.9 billion (approx. US $21.5 billion) over the following ten years. A Defence Industry Policy Statement (DIPS) and a
Boarding party teams of the Royal Australian Navy’s Adelaide-class frigate HMAS Darwin recently sharpened their counter-terrorism skills as the ship begins maritime patrols in the Middle East region with Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). During Darwin’s stopover in Bahrain, the Australian sailors cond
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully said that the Navy’s Multi-Role Vessel the HMNZS Canterbury would be sent to Fiji to support relief and recovery efforts following tropical cyclone Winston. According to a tweet by the Fiji government spokesman, 42 people were confirmed dead in the wake
Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac class frigate HMAS Ballarat recently started sea trials in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, after undergoing the Anti-Ship Missile Defence Upgrade. The sixth frigate of its class built for the Royal Australian Navy, Ballarat was the fifth vessel to proceed to mariner
The Royal Australian Navy’s new weapon system training platform for the Hobart-class destroyers has recently recently been certified. A leading seaman electronics technician took to the firing panel recently during a weapons certification firing trial of the Mk 25 25mm Typhoon at West Head Gunnery R
U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) completed a port call in Suva, Fiji, February 14, and thereby became the first U.S. Navy ship to visit Fiji in 10 years. While in port Suva, the crew of more than 300 sailors actively integrated with the local community. Sailors
Two Royal Omani Navy ships and one South African Navy frigate arrived at the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka on February 12. The Royal Navy of Oman ships Al Shamikh and Al Seeb are on their way home after participating in the bilateral Indian Navy-Omani Navy exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ conducted in the Ara
Having seized almost a tonne of heroin and made more than 50 boarding operations, Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne is now returning home to Australia. The guided missile frigate handed over maritime security responsibilities to sister ship, HMAS Darwin, after five months of operations in
The U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) is scheduled to return to its Naval Base San Diego homeport on February 11. The ship is on its way back from a 225-day independent deployment to the Arabian Gulf, Western Pacific, and Indian Oceans. While deployed to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fl
Royal Navy’s Type 45 frigate HMS Defender has visited the island nation of Sri Lanka on its return from the Arabian Gulf. The warship visited Colombo to take on stores and fuel and give the ship’s company a rest from their nine month deployment to the Gulf where they are conducting Air Command and C
The crew of the Royal Australian Navy’s guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne made their fifth drug seizure in Operation Manitou as they seized around 65kg of heroin from a dhow in the Indian Ocean. The hidden drugs were discovered when Melbourne’s boarding party searched a suspect vessel during Mel
Sri Lanka Navy Ships Sayura, Samudura and three Fast Attack Craft conducted a naval exercise with the Indian Naval Ship Vikramaditya and Mysore in the seas off Colombo on Sunday, January 24. The five hour exercise provided both navies a practical-based training in real conditions and also opportunit
