Multiple ships from EUNAVFOR Med’s Operation Sophia joined forces for the rescue of 475 migrants off the Libyan coast, February 20 and 21. Four rubber boats, one spotted by the Italian helicopter EH101 on Saturday and one by the Spanish air force aircraft VIGMA D-4 on Sunday, were in distress in int
Spanish Navy offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Atalaya (P-74) set sail from Ferrol, Spain for West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea in support of the Spanish Defense Diplomacy Plan. These deployments, organized by the Ministry of Defense, the Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD) and the Spanish Navy, are inte
Combined Task Force 151 (CTF151) vessel Suzunami of the Japanese Navy recently provided help to a yacht during a storm in the Red Sea. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) informed CTF151 that a British flagged sailing yacht was in distress during bad weather in the area. The vessel,
Brazilian Navy patrol ship Amazonas and the South African Navy frigate SAS Spioenkop arrived to Goa, India for the fifth edition of the international, joint exercise IBSAMAR which is to take place from February 19 – 29. This is the first time that exercise IBSAMAR is being conducted in Indian waters
Operation Atalanta flagship, ITS Carabiniere, and South Korean warship, ROKS Choi Young, met in the Indian Ocean on February 10, 2016. After being welcomed on board ROKS Choi Young, Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Barbieri, was given a tour by the Task Group Commander, Captain An,
Operation Atalanta Force Commander, Rear Admiral Stefano Barbieri on February 10 welcomed Captain Khyber Zaman, the Commanding Officer of PNS Saif to ITS Carabiniere, the mission flagship. The Italian warship has been deployed with the European Union’s counter-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean si
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
German corvette FGS Erfurt which has been deployed to EUNAVFOR’s Operation Atalanta at the Horn of Africa since August 2015 recently welcomed a new crew. The corvette sailed 22.000 sea miles under the command of the outgoing Corvette Captain Robert Schmidt. Now, the crew of another corvette, the FGS
Operation Atalanta flagship ITS Carabiniere conducted a joint exercise with the French frigate FS Floreal in the waters off Seychelles’ main harbour on February 5, 2016. The exercise was coordinated by the ships’ commanding officers, Commander François Xavier Waroux and Commander Francesco Saladino.
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
Images: EUNAVFOR 2016 Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Victoria on February 6 left EUNAVFOR’s Operation Atalanta after four months of counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. Led by Commander Fernando José Suarez Fonseca, the ship’s crew contributed to Operation Atalanta which deters and disrupts pir
Ghanaian maritime operations center is the host of the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP) operation which started February 4. Aside from the U.S. Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard, the operation involves members of the Ghanaian Navy. Activities are being conducted from the Military Sealif
U.S. Navy’s expeditionary fast transport vessel USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1), from the Military Sealift Command, arrived in Sekondi, Ghana, for a scheduled port visit January 30. This is the first port visit for Spearhead in support of Africa Partnership Station (APS). The ship is scheduled to embark me
Spanish Navy’s Santa Maria-class frigate, ESPS Victoria, conducted a series of exercises with Japanese Takanami-class destroyer, JDS Suzunami, to strengthen counter-piracy cooperation between the two forces. Meeting within close distance of the internationally recommended transit corridor in the Gul
