The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group reentered the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) after transiting the Suez Canal, Nov. 8. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), along with embarked Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 11, Carrier Air Wing 11, and Destroyer Squadron 23, spent nearly three weeks in
On Sunday NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD warship HDMS ESBERN SNARE boarded two small craft and detained nine suspected pirates, following an attack in the area the previous day. On the previous day, the Danish flagged vessel TORM KANSAS reported she was attacked unsuccessfully by pirat
The Lithuanian Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD), deployed with the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta since August 2013, is tasked with the protection of the World Food Programme (WFP) ship MV Caroline Scan. Embarked on the Caroline scan around the clock, the AVPD en
Just a few weeks after the Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant, issued another warning about the on-going piracy threat, there have been two more piracy related incidents off the Somali coast. The first incident happened on Tuesday 5 November, when EU Naval Force Germ
General Sir Richard Shirreff, KCB CBE, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) paid a visit to NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) on Wednesday, 6 November 2013, and met with its Commander, Vice Admiral Peter Hudson, CBE. The two NATO leaders took the opportunity for an exchange of views
RFA Lyme Bay has carried out the first of six friendly approaches in the Gulf of Aden. It was the first friendly approach carried out by a UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary Bay Class ship, as part of European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta. The ship’s boat team interacted with the lo
On Saturday, 2 November 2013, NATO`s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD flagship, HNoMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN, hosted a visit from the Republic of Korea Escort Task Group, which is also conducting counter-piracy operations in the area. Captain Sung Mok Choi, Commander of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Nav
The Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, General Knud Bartels, travelled to the Gulf of Aden on 28-30 October 2013 to visit the Ukrainian Navy frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy deployed there as part of Operation Ocean Shield, NATO’s counter-piracy mission. “Ukraine’s ability to plug in and out of NATO’
During the scheduled port-call at Tunis, the frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ (F-101) and the Turkish frigate ‘Salihreis’, integrated into the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), have trained with naval units from the Tunisian Navy. These PASSEX-type exercises are intended to assure that the participa
This past weekend, two NATO ships assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2) paid a visit to the port of Tunis. The port visit provided the crew of the SNMG2 ships a welcome break from the high tempo supporting NATO’s counter-terrorism Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR (OAE), actively deterring t
On Wednesday 16 October 2013, Royal Fleet Auxiliary Landing Ship, RFA Lyme Bay joined Operation Atalanta, as part of the EU’s counter piracy Naval Force off Somalia. RFA Lyme Bay is an amphibious operations support unit, whose primary role is to land troops, vehicles, equipment and stores from the s
EU Naval Force confirmed that on Friday 11 October 2013, a fully laden super tanker, known as a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), was fired upon by eight armed men in two ‘skiffs’ 230 miles off the Somali coast. The attack was successfully repelled by the Armed Security Team on board the super tanker
VIDEO: DDG 1000 Zumwalt-Class Destroyer Pending Christening (USA) The christening of the U.S. Navy’s newest guided missile destroyer, Zumwalt (DDG 1000), will take place on Saturday, October 19, 2013 at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. HMS Ramsey Sailors Learn from Their American Minehunting Counte
Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster currently on deployment in the Gulf of Oman, hosted Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Oman, Jamie Bowden, and the staff of the UK Embassy in Muscat Embassy, for an entertaining and informative day at sea. The day was organised to demonstrate to the Ambassador and the Emb
