The French Navy’s La Fayette-class frigate FS Surcouf returned to her homeport at Toulon naval base on August 10 completing a three-month counter-piracy deployment. Surcouf spent over 120 days with the Combined Maritime Forces’ CTF 150 patrolling the Indian Ocean intercepting traffickers between the
The joint US-UK exercise Saxon Warrior, held in waters off Scotland, concluded on August 10 after ten days of drills. Surface combatants from the UK, US and Norway joined the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush as the Royal Navy is preparing to revive its carrier strike capability. At one
Italian Navy Rear Admiral Fabio Gregori took over command of the EU counter-piracy operation Atalanta from Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado during a ceremony in Djibouti on July 27. EU NAVFOR’s deputy operation commander, Rear-Admiral Alfonso Pérez de Nanclares (Spanish Navy), also
Belgian Navy frigate BNS Louise Marie concluded her deployment to the EU-led migrant crisis operation in the Mediterranean Sea setting sail home on July 23. The multi-purpose frigate left operation Sophia after the scheduled 34 days of duties, despite calls for the frigate’s earlier withdrawal due t
French Piriou Naval Services announced it has just completed an extensive refit of the Royal Moroccan Navy patrol vessel Rais Bargach. Rais Bargach is a 65m ocean-going patrol vessel built in 1995 by STX France. It is one of five vessels in the class. Piriou Naval Services, a repair and services bra
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Arunta trained with Tanzanian crime fighters during her final port visit as part of Combined Task Force 150. The Australian team hosted six officers from the maritime detachment of the Tanzanian Transnational Organised Crime Unit June 21-22, conducting maritime cap
Italian Navy frigate ITS Espero is en route to her homeport after over two months of counter-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa as part of the EUNAVFOR operation Atalanta. During her 108-day deployment ITS Espero’s ship’s company helped deter and suppress pirate attacks which started again in 201
As part of her counter-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia, EU NAVFOR’s Italian warship, ITS Espero, has an Agusta-Bell AB 212 helicopter embarked. This highly capable helicopter provides the commanding officer with much-needed versatility, speed and range, as well as an intelligence-gathering c
The French-UK led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 seized nearly two tons of narcotics in the last two months during an operation called Southern Surge. The seizures included 1250 kg of heroin and 455 kg of hashish. Narcotics trafficking, particularly heroin, has long been associated with funding terro
The Italian Navy hosted its Algerian counterpart in the Italian port of Augusta for the bilateral exercise Medex-17. Medex consisted of a harbor and an at sea phase, taking place between June 12 and 16. Now in its ninth edition, the exercise is part of the 5 + 5 defense initiative aimed at enhancing
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel Vigía arrived at naval base Puntales, Cadiz, on June 16, returning from a three-and-a-half month mission to the Gulf of Guinea. Vigía set sail from Cadiz on February 28 to conduct a series of activities in Africa as part of the Spanish government’s Defense Diplo
After completing port calls in Madagascar and Australia, ships from the Chinese PLA Navy’s 25th Task Group arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, on June 15. The ships are on a goodwill visit tour in Asia Pacific following their counter-piracy deployment in the Gulf of Aden. Composed of two Type 054A fri
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Arunta interdicted 260kg of heroin in the north Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa on June 8. This is the frigate’s third drug interception as part of operation Manitou. The drugs were intercepted after the ship’s embarked Seahawk helicopter detected the suspicio
German soldiers and personnel assigned to the P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) detachment are concluding a three-month deployment to the EUNAVFOR’s operation Atalanta this week. Before the 85 personnel depart their current base in Djibouti to fly home to Germany, Atalanta Fo
