Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri marked the construction start of the first Italian Navy Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Ship (PPA) with a steel cutting ceremony at its shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia) on February 13. The shipbuilder said the first of seven offshore patrol ships would be delivered in 20
Following an operational tasking in the second part of 2016, RFA Wave Ruler returned home for a maintenance period which was completed in January. Wave Ruler returned to her tanker duties in support of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) after setting sail on January 22. Wave Ruler is tasked to carry o
German authorities have received a new centre that will allow a number of authorities to work together, integrated into the Maritime Safety and Security Centre. The centre was officially opened during a ceremony in Cuxhaven on February 9. The Maritime Safety and Security Centre has been acting as th
Apart from the previously announced collaboration on submarine acquisition, Germany and Norway will also be joining forces on naval missiles. After the Norwegian ministry of defense announced the choice of German TKMS as the preferred builder for its navy’s four new submarines less than two weeks ag
Spanish Navy’s amphibious assault ship ESPS Galicia departed the navy base Rota to join the European Union counter-piracy operation Atalanta in the Indian Ocean. Galicia will serve as the operation’s flagship hosting Spanish Navy Rear-Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado and his staff. This is the fourt
NATO’s annual mine countermeasure (MCM) exercise Dynamic Move (DME17) which saw the participation of over 15 countries, including Partnership for Peace (PFP) countries, Finland and Sweden, concluded Friday, February 10. The two-week drill was organized by the Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) and aim
British and American battlefield medics practised wartime operations and procedures off the coast of the United Arab Emirates aboard the UK flagship HMS Ocean. A specialist US medical team joined the helicopter assault group for the casualty drill, one of the tests of the Plymouth-based warship in h
One French ship was replaced by another in the Mediterranean Sea operation Sophia after FS Commandant Bouan took over from FS Commandant Ducuing on February 6. Both ships are D’Estienne d’Orves-class avisos most commonly used for anti-submarine defence and high sea escort missions. Commandant Ducuin
Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey returmed home to Portsmouth on Friday completing a 13-month mission supporting efforts to tackle people trafficking and drug smuggling. The River-class patrol ship left Portsmouth in January 2016, heading for the Caribbean before travelling east to the Mediterranean
Off the west coast of Africa frigate HMS Portland takes on fuel from tanker RFA Gold Rover – the very last time the oldest vessel in the UK’s Naval Service will provide ‘black gold’ to fuel front-line operations. The 11,000-tonne support vessel is due to decommission in the UK next month – 43 years
Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Tidespring arrived in Japan on February 9 for a scheduled stop on its way to UK waters. RFA Tidespring is the lead ship of Tide-class tankers built for Great Britain by the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. As the first of four ships that
The first Royal Navy establishment overseas in nearly half a century will be ready for sailors and marines to move into by November, the Royal Navy said. Workers are on track to complete the future HMS Jufair in Bahrain that will provide accommodation, welfare and support facilities for up to 300 mi
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) joined over 2,800 service personnel from Romania, Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine for the at-sea portion of exercise Sea Shield on February 8. Sea Shield is an annual, Romania-led multinational exercise
Weeks after receiving a $54 million contract for Trident (D5) MK 6 guidance system production, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory has landed another $58.5 contract modification for the same task. The contract for the guidance system production includes failure verification, test, repair and recertifica
