The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) transiting the Black Sea on May 24. The cruiser entered the Black Sea on May 23. Vella Gulf is deployed in a multi-mission role in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility to contribute to regional maritime security and to suppor
The oceanic patrol vessel (BAM in its Spanish initials) ‘Relámpago’, currently participating in the European-led counter-piracy operation ‘Atalanta’ in the Indian Ocean, has provided medical assistance to a ‘dhow’-type fishing boat off the coast of Somalia. The ‘Relámpago’ carried out a friendly a
The US Navy’s Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), carrying 1,000 marines, has sailed into the Mediterranean Sea and could be used for evacuation of American personnel from Libya, writes the Associated Press. The warship will remain in the region as a precautionary measure, but w
A delegation from Djibouti led by its Defense Minister Hassan Darar Houffaneh, accompanied by a the Director General of Weapons and Materiel, Lieutenant General Juan Manuel García Montaño, have paid a visit to the oceanic patrol vessel (OPV) ‘Chilreu’ and to Navantia Shipyards in Ferrol. They were
Phoenix Express 2014, a multinational maritime exercise between North African, European, and U.S. naval forces, which began its inport phase at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operation Training Center (NMIOTC) in Souda Bay, May 13, is now in its underway operations phase in the central Mediterranean
The scaffolding around the bow of the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth has been removed, the Aircraft Carrier Alliance said on its Twitter account. The scaffolding was mounted so as to give the next generation aircraft carrier her new paint job. The giant aircraft carrier is undergoing final touch
The boarding squad of the Spanish Navy frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ (F-105) visited a ‘dhow’-type fishing boat north of the IRTC (Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor) in the Arabian Sea. The ‘dhow’ was sailing back to her Iranian home port with 16 people on board: 13 Iranian and 3 Pakistani
The Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel (OPV) ‘Tarifa’ has just departed from Cartagena to participate in the International Joint Deployment Plan in the Western Mediterranean Sea to monitor the fishing campaign of the Bluefin Tuna. This operation forms part of the European Fishing Agency initiativ
Personnel from European, North African and U.S. Naval forces began preparing for the underway segment of Phoenix Express Exercise 2014 (PE14) by standing up the maritime operations center in Sigonella, May 26. Planners from 10 countries have begun tracking ships leaving ports and integrating logis
Last Friday, 23 May 2014, the five NATO ships assigned to Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group ONE (SNMCMG1) arrived in Riga, along with FGS Elbe, which assumed its new role as flagship for the Group upon Germany’s assumption of command on Monday, May 26. SNMCMG1 is visiting the port as part
China and Russia have completed their joint naval drill named “Joint-Sea 2014”, which began in South China Sea on May 20th, according to the Voice of Russia. Russian and Chinese ships returned to the Shanghai port on Sunday, May 25th to attend the farewell ceremony for the Russian Navy staff parti
HMS Sutherland prepares to enter the water for the first time in six months as her refit approaches a major milestone. The frigate has been out of action since October – and out of the water since the following month – while undergoing an 11-month revamp in her home base of Devonport. That revamp
HMS Somerset held a Service of Remembrance for personnel from HMS Brilliant who perished when their Lynx helicopter crashed in Mombasa, Kenya on 14 May 1989. The ship’s company of HMS Somerset, including the embarked Lynx flight crew, took time to remember those lost from the Type 22 Broadsword-cl
The Fleet Air Arm is undergoing a vast programme of transition as all front line aircraft are replaced over the coming years. The Lynx Wildcat Maritime Force (LWMF) at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton is already deep into this transition, successfully introducing the Wildcat Helicopter Mar
