Naval and Maritime Experts Conduct Joint Training
Naval and merchant maritime experts partnered together to deliver enhanced maritime domain awareness (MDA) for the first time in a Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in 2018.MDA is the ability to maintain situational awareness of seagoing vessel movements, and is used to assess the normal patterns of life on major trade routes. Their interaction provided an adaptive capability that is an important part of maritime security operations.This capability is a critical supporting element in the effort to maintain freedom of navigation…
Panama Canal Simulated Defence Exercise PANAMAX
Leaders of the maritime component of PANAMAX 2014 have paused about halfway through the exercise, to assess its benefits so far, informs U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs. Rear Adm. Benjamin Calle of Colombia is the Combined Forces Maritime Component Commander (CFMCC) and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Jon Matheson, the deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, is deputy CFMCC for the exercise, which began Aug. 4 and is scheduled to continue through Aug. 15. "This PANAMAX exercise is a huge event," said Calle. Sources say that 38 to 40 ships transit the canal daily between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, carrying some five percent of world maritime trade.
Japanese CNO Visits NAVCENT
Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) Chief of Maritime Staff Adm. Eiji Yoshikawa and Japanese Ambassador to Bahrain Takeshi Kondo met with Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT)/Commander U.S. 5th Fleet on July 11. The visit began with a luncheon held at NAVCENT to welcome Yoshikawa and was followed up with a tour of other commands on the installation, such as the Coalition Coordination Center, Combined Forces Maritime Component Command (CFMCC), where the Japanese senior national representative, Cmdr. Kenji Sugahara, works. A Japanese forward-deployed ship for Operation Enduring Freedom, JDS Suzunami (DD 114), assisted in a rescue at sea in the Gulf of Oman on July 12 at the request of Combined Task Force 150.
Pakistani Admiral Becomes Commander of Maritime Task Force
Pakistan Navy's Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Mohammad Haroon Hi, addresses the crowd during a change of command ceremony for Commander Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150) aboard HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (F802). Pakistani Rear Adm. Shahid Iqbal relieved Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Hank Ort as CTF-150. U.S. Pakistani Rear Adm. Shahid Iqbal relieved Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Hank Ort as commander of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 during a change of command ceremony aboard HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (F802) at the port of Mina Salman, Bahrain, April 24. The change of leadership marks the first time an officer of a regional nation has assumed command of any of the three coalition task forces that comprise the Combined Maritime Force.
