Last week EU Naval Force confirmed that the Malaysian flagged Motor Vessel, MV Albedo, held by armed pirates in an anchorage close to the Somali coast since November 2010, had sunk in rough seas. Since then EU Naval Force warships and a Maritime Patrol Aircraft have conducted sea and air searches in
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) completed Phase III of the Crew Certification, excelling in the process that evaluated the aircraft carrier’s state of readiness to go to sea safely with a qualified crew, according to evaluators, July 16. “Passing the Crew Certification tests TR’s ability to take the
The U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) Carrier Strike Group, Destroyer Squadron 15 (DESRON 15) and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) collaborate in an air defense exercise (ADEX) in support of exercise Talisman Saber 2013 (TS 13). ADEXs provide combined tra
Sailors assigned to USS Freedom’s (LCS 1) visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team staged a compliant boarding exercise with a team from the Singaporean Police Coast Guard July 17 as part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2013. CARAT is a series of bilateral military exercises
A Fleet Survey Team (FST) from John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss., embarked on dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42), took to the waters of Shoalwater Bay to conduct hydrographic surveys prior to Germantown’s planned amphibious operations, July 15 – 16. Hydrographic surveys provide mission crit
The Gallantry Medal Award Ceremony 2013 was held at the Temple Trees on 15th July 2013 under the patronage of His Excellency the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mahinda Rajapaksa. Two minutes’ silence was observed in honour of the Service Personnel who have made the supreme sacr
The Golden Swordsmen of Patrol Squadron (VP) 47 flew their first mission July 16 in support of the multinational surface ships operating in the Black Sea on the first day of the underway operations phase of Sea Breeze 2013. Flying the P-3C Orion aircraft, the crew used their expertise in maritime do
Minehunter HMS Chiddingfold is nearing the end of her long road out of refit by coming through a month-long examination of the Navy’s Operational Sea Training in Scotland. The Portsmouth-based minehunter was out of action for 572 days undergoing a massive overhaul, including receiving new caterpilla
Fishery protection vessel HMS Severn has returned to Portsmouth following a major upgrade at Falmouth. Work during the two–month refit included overhauls to her two main engines and generators plus revamped accommodation areas. Her two seaboats have also been fully serviced and the freshwater produc
HMAS Waller made a short visit to Garden Island, Sydney recently. It’s been a busy couple of months for the crew of the Collins Class submarine. Waller recently completed work up activities in the West Australian Exercise Area (WAXA). This resulted in the crew and platform performing at their peak p
Sydney was abuzz on Saturday, 13 July with the arrival of United States Navy, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) docking at Garden Island, Sydney for a port visit. The command ship of the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet, the Blue Ridge with her 52 officers and 790 enlisted personnel, arrived in Sydney ahead of her schedul
Whilst alongside in Djibouti port, staff from the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Flagship, NRP Álvares Cabral, and members of the Djiboutian Navy and of the Djiboutian Coast Guard came together on board the Portuguese ship to conduct Local Maritime Capacity Building (LMCB) training to exchange maritime
U.S. and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Sailors from the George Washington Carrier Strike Group (GWCSG) began their portion of Talisman Saber 2013 off the northeast coast of Australia, July 15. Exercise Talisman Saber 2013 is a biennial training activity aimed at improving Australian and U.S. combat re
Students from Wales University Royal Naval Unit (URNU), currently deployed in the Baltic on board HMS Express, made a visit to the Swedish National Defence College (SNDC) in Stockholm on 9th July. The SNDC is an important organisation for Sweden; it aims to be an instrument for change within the are
