Defence Ministry News

China's coastguard said it had taken measures against Philippine vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, while the Philippines decried the moves, including the use of water cannons, as "irresponsible and provocative".China's actions led to "significant damage" and injury to personnel on a civilian boat hired to resupply troops, the Philippine task force on the South China Sea said in a statement.The incident occurred in the Second Thomas Shoal and Spratly Islands waters, according to the Chinese coastguard.

The U.S. military will not be involved in development of a port in the Philippines' remote northernmost islands near Taiwan, the local governor said, removing a potential source of friction with China over the U.S. presence in the region.The governor of the Batanes islands, less than 200 km (125 miles) from Taiwan, said in August she had sought U.S. funding for a new port there. The U.S. embassy had at the time confirmed its diplomats and U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) experts had…

Ukrainian sea drones hit and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said a special unit called Group 13 had fired Magura V5 maritime drones at the Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.It said on the Telegram messaging app that the vessel had sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides, at an estimated cost of $65 million."Right now this ship is on the seabed as a result of fire damage by unmanned boats…

Ukrainian sea drones damaged a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea, Ukrainian military intelligence said on Tuesday.The intelligence agency said on Telegram messaging app that its special unit Group 13 attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait."As a result of a strike by Magura V5 maritime drones, the Russian ship Project 22160 Sergey Kotov sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides," it said. The message added that the ship was worth about $65 million.Andriy Yermak…

An Italian navy ship shot down a drone flying towards it in the Red Sea on Saturday, the defence ministry said.A ministry statement described the action as self-defence by the Duilio, which is helping protect trade routes from drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia."The drone, with similar characteristics to those already used in previous attacks, was about 6 km (3.73 miles) from the Italian ship, flying towards it," the statement said.Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the Houthi attacks…

A German warship shot down two drones in the Red Sea on Tuesday amid escalating attacks by Yemen's Houthis and efforts by the European Union to protect international shipping, German officials said.Shipping risks have increased due to repeated strikes by the Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.U.S. and British forces have responded with several airstrikes on Houthi facilities but have so far failed to halt the attacks.The German navy frigate Hessen…

Russia said on Saturday it had repelled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Russian "civilian transport ships" on Friday evening in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, a key artery for grain and oil exports from both countries.Civilian vessels on the Black Sea have not generally been targeted since Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine in February 2022, but last July both sides said they would start treating ships headed to the other's ports as potential carriers of military cargo.In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app…

Commodities trader Trafigura said on Saturday it was assessing the security risks of further Red Sea voyages after firefighters put out a blaze on a tanker attacked by Yemen's Houthi group a day earlier.The U.S. military said a U.S. Navy ship and other vessels provided assistance after the Marlin Luanda was hit by a Houthi anti-ship missile."No further vessels operating on behalf of Trafigura are currently transiting the Gulf of Aden and we continue to assess carefully the risks involved in any voyage…

Chinese state media warned on Friday that a report by a prominent U.S. think tank on the military uses of Chinese scientific research across the Indian Ocean gave "ammunition" to countries bent on concocting threats from China.The report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) "comes at a time when some countries need to manufacture a 'China threat' narrative in the Indian Ocean region and provides them with ammunition", the state-controlled tabloid Global Times said in an editorial."The timing of this report is delicate…

Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip "immediately" as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday, naming four European countries as potential participants.Under the arrangement first suggested by Nicosia in November, cargo would undergo security inspection in the Cypriot port of Larnaca before being ferried to the Gaza coast, 370 km (230 miles) away, rather than through neighbouring Egypt or Israel.If the plan goes ahead…

Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had briefed President Vladimir Putin in detail about the attack, the Kremlin said.

A merchant ship sailing off Somalia has been hijacked by unknown raiders, Spain's defence ministry said on Tuesday, fuelling fears pirates are returning to the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea waters already plagued by a surge in attacks on shipping.A Spanish warship rushed to check on the Maltese-flagged vessel Ruen on Friday after reports it had been hijacked. It "has been under piracy (control) since the morning of Dec. 14," the ministry said in a statement, in its first confirmation of the ship's fate."The MV Ruen has indeed been hijacked.

Yemen's Houthis have been targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in attacks that the Iran-aligned group says aim to support the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war.Several freight firms including MSC, the world's largest container shipping line, said they would avoid the Suez Canal as a result, which could mean having to circumnavigate Africa instead.War risk insurance premiums have risen as a result.WHAT ARE THE RECENT HOUTHI ATTACKS?* Dec.

Every day, nearly 60 fully loaded very large crude-oil carriers sail between the Persian Gulf and Chinese ports, carrying about half of the oil that powers the world's second-largest economy.As the vessels enter the South China Sea, they ply waters increasingly controlled by China's growing military, from the missile batteries and airfields at its bases on disputed islands to its stealthy Type 055 destroyers.But when crossing the Indian Ocean, joined by others headed to China from Africa and Brazil…

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.The Iran-aligned group attacked the tanker, the Strinda, because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.But the tanker's owner, Norway's Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of biofuel feedstock, not crude oil.

A French warship operating in the Red Sea has shot down two drones that were launched at it from the Yemen coast, the defence ministry said on Sunday.It said the multipurpose frigate Languedoc had intercepted and destroyed a first drone at around 9:30 p.m. local French time on Saturday, and a second one around 11:30 p.m.

Ukrainian officials said Russia struck Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage facilities on Tuesday, but also reported some progress on the front lines in the three-month old counteroffensive by its forces.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of "good details" from the front without further explanation and said Ukraine clearly understood where to apply pressure to make it felt in Moscow."Sanctions are not enough. There will also be more of our own Ukrainian actions against the terrorist state," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

South Korean authorities cited the risk of Chinese economic retaliation when they charged marine technology firm SI Innotec last year with violating trade laws for its work on Taiwan's new military submarine program, according to a police document seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter.In a Feb. 17, 2022, affidavit to a judge seeking the arrest of SI Innotec executive director Park Mal-sik, police said authorities feared a repeat of the sweeping sanctions imposed by Beijing in 2016, after Seoul decided to install THAAD, a U.S. anti-missile system.

Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, to strengthen deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines, the head of the program said.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous sub program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty.President Tsai Ing-wen…

The Philippines on Monday accused Chinese coastguard vessels of "intentionally" colliding with its vessels on a resupply mission in a disputed part of the South China Sea, as ties deteriorated between the Southeast Asian U.S. ally and Beijing.Both sides traded accusations after the latest incident on Sunday, which was the most serious yet in the waters around the disputed Second Thomas shoal, though no one was harmed.China said on Sunday that the Philippine boats "bumped dangerously" with the coastguard vessels and "Chinese fishing vessels" fishing there.On Monday…

Ukraine said on Wednesday Russian warplanes had dropped "explosive objects" into the likely paths of civilian vessels in the Black Sea three times in the last 24 hours, but that its fledgling shipping corridor was still operating.Ukraine is trying to build up a new shipping lane without Russian approval to revive its vital seaborne exports. Russia said it would consider any vessel a potential military target after it quit a U.N.-brokered deal in July that allowed some food exports…

Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria will work together against the threat of floating mines in the Black Sea due to war between Russia and Ukraine, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.The ministry gave no details of how it would address the floating mine problem. It said on social media platform X that the three countries had discussed the issue at the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels.Last week, the British government said Russia may use sea mines to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports.

Ukraine rained 15 cruise missiles on Russia's shipyard in the Crimean port city of Kerch on Saturday, damaging one ship, Russian defence ministry said, in an attack that could further undermine Moscow's striking capabilities.Thirteen of the missiles were destroyed in the air, while one hit a ship, the Russian defence ministry said in a typically laconic statement when reporting on Ukraine's strikes on Russian territory or infrastructure. It did not give the ship's name.Ukraine's top Air Force commander said the Russian Navy stationed there one of its most modern ships…