China to Supply Pakistan With 8 New Stealth Attack Submarines
The Chinese government will supply eight modified diesel-electric attack submarines to Pakistan by the year 2028, reports Sputnik. Four of the subs would be constructed in China and the rest in Pakistan. Shaikh Rohail Asghar head of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence said the Pakistan Navy had inked a contract with China for submarines according to which the latter will construct four submarines in China and supply them to the Pakistan Navy in mid 2022-23. The remaining four submarines will be constructed in Pakistan at the Karachi Shipyard and these will be handed over to the Pakistan Navy in 2028. In April, a senior Pakistan Navy official announced that Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) had secured a contract to produce four of the eight submarines…
China's Shipping Route to Iran
Two state-run Chinese firms - China National Transportation Equipment & Engineering Co Ltd (CTC) and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSI) - are pushing for multi-billion dollar Intermodal transport deals with Iran, says a report in Reuters. CTC is close to finalizing an agreement on the $3 billion rail project to connect Tehran with the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, a Chinese source told Reuters. China's Export and Import Bank (EXIM) is expected to fund 85 percent of the cost for the 930-km (580 mile) rail project. DSI has likewise been in discussions on building container ships and oil tankers for Iran, according to two sources who declined to be identified because the talks are still continuing.
US Suspends Search for El Faro Survivors
The U.S. Coast Guard will call off its search for potential survivors from the missing cargo ship El Faro, several media sources reported Wednesday. The search will end Wednesday night, according to CNN, who cited family members with relatives aboard the vessel that went missing last Thursday in the powerful Hurricane Joaquin. There were 33 aboard, including 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals, when El Faro suffered engine failure and was stranded in high winds and seas up to 50 feet in the path of the storm, says the ship’s owner TOTE.
Russia, China Hold Joint Naval Exercises
The second stage of Russia-China "Joint Sea 2015" maritime exercises are taking place on June 8-11 in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Territory, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry’s Eastern Military District press service. The joint exercise will include troop landing practices and reconnaissance missions. "As part of the upcoming joint Russian-Chinese naval drills, Joint Sea 2015 [II] at the firing range at Cape Klerk the airborne and amphibious landing will be practiced," Pacific Fleet’s spokesman Captain 1st Rank Roman Martov said. On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that officers from the Russian Eastern Military District…
Greece Detain Weapons-Carrying Ship, Arrest Crew
The Greek coast guard has detained the cargo ship 'Nour M', sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone from Ukraine and carrying a large quantity of arms and explosives without proper documents, reports the Ukraine News Agency, citing Greek media sources. Citing data from ANA, the Athens state news agency, the report adds that the ship was intercepted near the Greek island of Symi. The captain stated that the destination was the Turkish port of Iskenderun, but at the same time, there are reports that some of the load might have been intended for delivery to the ports of Tartus (Syria) and Tripoli (Libya). According to ANA, the captain, a Turkish citizen, and seven crew members were arrested. Source: Ukraine News Agency
Russian Warship's Syrian Role Clarified
A Russian amphibious landing ship, the Caesar Kunikov left the Black Sea port of Sevastopol for what a Black Sea Fleet officer said was a routine exercise at a training base, in response to media reports earlier this week that it could be heading for Syria. Some Ukrainian media sources also reported, referring to CNN and other western media, that another large amphibious ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Nikolai Filchenkov, was heading for the Syrian port of Tartus carrying weapons and marines to defend Russia’s naval facility. Last week, U.S.
UNOSAT 3D Map of Piracy in Gulf of Aden
UNOSAT, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Program, released a 3D map of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden for 2008. This 3D perspective map illustrates the relative spatial density of reported pirate incidents in the Gulf of Aden for 2008, current as of 21 November. Incidents that have occurred within 5km of the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) following implementation on 26 August 2008 are identified. A spatial analysis of the pattern changes in attacks has also been conducted.
Controversial Fuel To Reach Port Soon
A nuclear fuel shipment to Japan that has stirred up protests by environmentalists is expected to reach port aboard two British cargo ships on Sept. 22, according to Japanese media sources. The ships, carrying MOX fuel, a mixture of uranium and plutonium recycled from spent nuclear fuel, will arrive at a port near the city of Iwaki, about 130 miles north of Tokyo. The armed British cargo ship Pacific Teal left the French port of Cherbourg on July 21 and subsequently linked up with the Pacific Pintail, its sister ship, for the journey to Japan. The Pacific Pintail had been loaded with MOX from Britain's Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.
