The amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) successfully completed an ammunition onload, Feb 14. This evolution was an intricate part of the ship’s preparation to become fully operational for deployment. Sailors from weapons department worked around the clock, taking on approximately 878
EU Naval Force warships have once again come to the rescue of fishermen off the coast of Somalia. Following FGS Hessen’s rescue of a 14 year old fisherman from a capsized boat on Wednesday 12 February, this latest rescue, which happened on Thursday 13 February, saw French warship, FS Siroco and Ge
Between Sunday 2 and Saturday 8 February, Ukrainian Navy frigate, Hetman Sagaidachniy, which is currently operating with the EU Naval Force off the coast of Somalia, visited the port of Salalah in Oman. Having spent a number of weeks at sea, the visit was an opportunity to refuel the ship and to r
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Carrier Strike Group (GHWB CSG) departed for its 2nd deployment Feb. 15. The strike group, led by the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), and its nearly 6,000 Sailors; is scheduled to conduct operations in the U.S. Navy’s 5th and 6th Fleet areas
The Indian Navy has started their largest combat exercise called “Tropex”, which is taking place in the Bay of Bengal. Over 50 Indian warships are partaking in the exercise, including the flagship of the Indian Navy, INS Viraat, and nuclear submarine INS Chakra. The combined Eastern and Western Fl
Crewmembers of the Spanish Navy warship ESPS Tornado, assigned to EU Naval Force, conducted an exercise with the Malagasy Navy. The exercise took place in Antisiranana, Madagascar from 5 to 8 February and included participation of 18 people from the Malagasy Navy. The primary goal of the exercise
The Royal New Zealand Navy’s big multi-national Mine Counter-Measure Exercise begins next week. Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf islands have been renamed for the exercise, their names can be seen on the following link. WPNS is a Mine Counter Measure and Divine Exercise, which will be held in Auckland, New
The tugboat of project 90600 “RB-401”, built by Russian Pella shipyard, joined the Russian Navy on February 1st, 2014 at a ceremony in Kaliningrad. The tugboat is intended for towing and berthing operations, as well as refloating of ships and vessels, fire fighting operations at floating and shore
HMS Westminster has handed over her Op Kipion duties in the Indian Ocean to her sister ship HMS Somerset and is heading home, due for return at the end of the month. The frigate rounded off her six-month deployment with a final replenishment at sea with US Naval Ship (USNS) Alan Shepard. While kee
The Australian Navy’s replenishment oiler HMAS Sirius has kept a watchful eye over the recent period on the North West Shelf Oil and Gas Fields, providing overt security presence in the strategically important area for Australia. The patrol was conducted under the umbrella of the RED RAPTOR exerci
USS Elrod (FFG 55), the U.S. Navy’s Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate wrapped up her visit to Mauritania and headed out to sea on February 10. The visit was a perfect opportunity for Elrod sailors to work side by side with their colleagues from the Tunisian Navy. The crews teamed up in a passing e
The EU Naval Force Somalia Operation Atalanta warships have saved about 880,000 tonnes of world food programme aid from pirate attacks, thus achieving the EU Navfor’s primary goal. Operation Atalanta, also known as European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU-NAVFOR-ATALANTA), is a current military oper
The first of four US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), arrived on Tuesday, 11 February 2014 at Naval Station Rota, Spain, which will be its new permanent homeport. With the arrival, the destroyer kick started her forward deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operati
The crew of the German Navy ship, FGS Hessen, which is currently deployed within the EU Naval Force, changed an engine of the warship’s Sea Lynx Mark 88A helicopter during their recent port visit to the Seychelles last month. The procedure of changing an engine is extremely specialized and require
