East Timor News

East Timor is confident the Australian government will support plans for gas from the massive Greater Sunrise offshore field to be processed in Timor rather than Darwin, the country's petroleum authority head said on Thursday.Greater Sunrise lies in waters between East Timor and Australia and holds an estimated 7.3 trillion cubic feet of gas which the Timorese urgently want to develop as the impoverished nation's main revenue source, the Bayu Undan oil and gas field, is set to…

“Freedom” – the absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic governmentIt has been decades since international relations in the world order dictated true competition for sea control, sea lines of communication, access to world markets, and diplomatic partnerships. However, it is becoming increasingly alarming that nations such as Iran, China and Russia seek to accumulate/consolidate power and re-define international maritime norms, potentially at the peril of diplomatic…

HMAS Darwin has completed her final port visit to Darwin, farewelling the city by exercising the right to Freedom of Entry and showcasing her capability to thousands of locals. The six-day port visit included a ceremonial gun salute on arrival, the Freedom of Entry parade, an open day and various public performances by the Royal Australian Navy Band. Commanding Officer Darwin, Commander Phillip Henry, said the ship’s company were overwhelmed and deeply grateful to the community for the support they had received. “We are very proud to sail Darwin and we do so with respect for the officers and sailors who have served in this vessel before us,” Commander Henry said. “The support we saw from the Darwin community is a reminder to all of us why we work so hard to serve this country.

Towage operator KOTUG said it has acquired a fifth infield support vessels (ISVs) in Australia and East Timor, furthering its investment in offshore support. The new vessel, Coral Knight, will be bare boat chartered exclusively to Australian Maritime Systems Limited (AMS) to provide emergency towage services and maintain aids to the navigation network at the Great Barrier Reef for AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority). KOTUG said it acquired the Coral Knight with a view to further expand its offshore support services in the Australian region.

Ex-HMAS Sydney has left Sydney Harbour to be towed to Western Australia for recycling, says Minister for Defence Personnel Media Release. Minister for Defence Personnel Dan Tehan said the frigate will be recycled by Australian company Birdon Pty Ltd. “Ex-HMAS Sydney had an illustrious career during her 32 years in service with the Royal Australian Navy,” Mr Tehan said. “The Adelaide class frigate was involved in operations spanning the Middle East, East Timor, Fiji and the Solomon Islands and earned a Meritorious Unit Citation during the First Gulf War in 1991. “She was built at the Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington, USA, and commissioned there on 29 January 1983.

HMAS Melbourne has celebrated 25 years since she entered service with the Royal Australian Navy, proving her motto, ‘She gathers strength as she goes’. The guided missile frigate has steamed more than 1.5 million kilometres - about 37 times the earth’s circumference - and clocked up almost 62,000 hours underway, since commissioning on 15 February 1992 at Station Pier, Melbourne. Commanding Officer Commander Charles Bourne said the frigate still plays a pivotal role in the Australian fleet. “We are one of only three long-range air defence ships in the Navy and will remain so until the new Hobart class destroyers arrive,” Commander Bourne said. “We have just completed trials for the MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ helicopters in order to ensure the aircraft can be safely operated from the ship.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague will oversee a compulsory arbitration between East Timor and Australia on their maritime boundary, it said on Monday, rejecting Australian objections. East Timor asked for the process which could decide on which side of the border lies a large oil and gas field over which the two countries have a revenue-sharing agreement. The island nation said Australian espionage on its diplomats rendered recent agreements between them flawed. Australia has resisted negotiating a permanent border until 2056 at the earliest. The conciliation process will take place behind closed doors over the next year, the court said. (Reporting by Toby Sterling

Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said. "The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday. He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas. "So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea…

Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said. "The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday. He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas. "So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea…

Australia has farewelled a Royal Australian Navy ship that has served the country for over three decades in a ceremony today on Sydney Harbour. The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, AK MC (Retd), together with the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, and Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN, attended the decommissioning of HMAS Sydney, at her homeport of Garden Island, Sydney. Minister Payne paid tribute to the service of ship’s company past and present. The Australian White Ensign was lowered from the ship for the last time, and handed to Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander David Murphy, RAN, as is the tradition for Navy during decommissioning ceremonies.

HMAS Sydney will be decommissioned after 32 years of service at her homeport of Garden Island, Sydney on November 7, 2015. During the conduct of maritime operations spanning the globe HMAS Sydney, an Adelaide Class Guided Missile Frigate serving with the Royal Australian Navy has steamed 959,627 nautical miles and supported operations in the Middle East, East Timor, Fiji and the Solomon Islands; earning a Meritorious Unit Citation during the First Gulf War in 1991.   More recently Sydney has conducted border protection operations, several major coalition exercises and embeds and her last mission, which concludes this year, is the important Harbour Training Ship role in support of the Fleet Commander’s Flag Order One.

Indonesian and Australian authorities have signed an agreement to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to promote sustainable fisheries governance across the region. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has signed a cooperation agreement with the Australian Agriculture and Water Resources Department to combat illegal fishing through a joint patrol. Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce met Indonesia's Minister for Maritime Affairs Susi Pudjiastuti, agreeing to co-operate on tracking down foreign fishers that stray into the archipelago nation's vast waters. Through the cooperation, Indonesia is hoping to put a stop on foreign vessels stealing fish in Indonesian waters.

The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, AK, MC (Retd), together with the Assistant Minister for Defence Stuart Robert, MP, and Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN, today attended the decommissioning of HMAS Tobruk to bid the ship a fond farewell in Sydney. “In a time-honoured tradition, the Australian White Ensign was lowered for the last time and handed to Commanding Officer, Commander Leif Maxfield,” Mr Robert said. Tobruk provided sterling service and contributed to operations in Somalia, East Timor and the Solomon Islands, and conducted extensive work both in Australia and around the South West Pacific. “She has been the workhorse of the Fleet,” Mr Robert said.

Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN, was joined at HMAS Cairns today by his Philippine counterpart, Flag Officer in Command Philippine Navy, Vice Admiral Jesus Millan, at a ceremony to gift two decommissioned Australian Balikpapan class landing craft to the Government of the Philippines. Super Typhoon Haiyan caused significant devastation to the Philippines in November 2013 and approximately 500 Australian Defence Force personnel, including the crew of HMAS Tobruk and a deployment of Army Engineers, provided in-country support to the relief effort, at the request of the Philippines Government. “The relief effort highlighted the importance of regional sea lift options due to numerous airfields being inaccessible and land infrastructure impassable…

Connecting more than 12 ports, monthly multipurpose service with lifting capacity of up to 120 metric tons. Swire Shipping and Rickmers-Linie has announced the launch of a connecting carrier partnership. Under this partnership, Swire Shipping will be able to connect its breakbulk and project cargoes in India and the Middle East, through Rickmers-Linie’s Middle East and India Service, to its network in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, via Singapore. The first voyage is scheduled to depart Mumbai already on 9 June 2015, the first voyage from Jebel Ali being on 28 June 2015. The load ports are Jebel Ali, Mumbai, Chennai, Dammam, Kolkata (other ports on inducement).

Shared development of oil, gas and possibly other natural resources is the most promising option for reducing tensions in the South China Sea and should be the focus of efforts to improve diplomatic relations between China and its coastal neighbors. Joint development agreements (JDAs) are already common across Asia. Most of the countries with a disputed claim in the South China Sea have signed at least one joint agreement to explore for oil and gas, either in the South China Sea or in neighbouring areas like the Gulf of Thailand and the East China Sea, so there are plenty of precedents to draw on. The basic principle is that countries agree on a legal framework for exploration and production…

The Australian Navy’s three remaining Landing Craft Heavy auxiliary vessels put on a proud display of thanks to the Cairns community, sailing in formation from the city’s harbor this morning. This was the last time HMA Ships Brunei, Labuan and Tarakan will sail in-company together in the port they have called home for nearly 30 years. Commanding Officer of Brunei, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Richardson said the formation exit marks the start of the ships’ decommissioning voyages: “The first of the Balikpapan class ships arrived in Cairns in the mid-eighties.

A new $2 billion Pacific Patrol Boat (PPB) Program unveiled today by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defense Minister David Johnston aims to significantly strengthen security in our region. “The Pacific Patrol Boat Program is an important pillar of the Australian Government’s commitment to working with our regional partners to enable cohesive security cooperation on maritime surveillance, including in fisheries protection and transnational crime,” Minister Bishop said. “Defense will replace the current fleet of patrol boats for all current PPB members with the addition of a new member, Timor-Leste (East Timor), which has been invited to join the program, evidence of Australia’s growing defense cooperation program with that country,” said Senator Johnston.

OPITO, the skills for oil and gas body, appointed a new managing director to lead the U.K. arm of the organization as the industry gears up for a major change in how it addresses its skills needs. John McDonald has taken over the reins at OPITO from Larraine Boorman who stood down in August. He brings a wealth of experience and an impressive track record in the skills, training and workforce development sector to the Aberdeen-headquartered organization. Former director of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Mr.

The visit by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ANZAC Class frigate coincided with Canada’s Victoria Day. A contingent of HMAS Perth sailors were honoured to march ahead of the Royal Canadian Navy at the annual Esquimalt Victoria Day Parade. The RAN and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) have a long history of serving and training together. RAN and RCN ships served during the Korean War, in support to East Timor, and have been longstanding participants the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise series, the largest maritime exercise in the world.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is touring the Pacific to meet with government and military leaders as his department plans to shift more ships, sailors and Marines to the region. Mabus left Washington for Hawaii to meet with Adm. Cecil Haney, the new commander of Pacific Fleet. From there he will stop in Guadalcanal, Australia, East Timor, Brunei, the Seychelles and Cape Verde. He told Navy Times in an interview that the goal of the two-week trip is to build stronger relationships between the host nations and the U.S.

As the Internet continues to serve as a vital platform to instantly and publicly disseminate information and opinions, blogging has increasingly become more mainstream, and even, a pertinent resource for the Navy and other government agencies. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Web Logs, or blogs, have come a long way. In fact, the Navy, well known for its effective public outreach, has encouraged use of the web as an informational tool within guidelines. "The WWW is an extremely powerful public information tool, and its use, within these guidelines, is encouraged." As the popularity of blogs within the ranks grew, in 2005, the Navy issued a regulation (SECNAVINST 5720.47B) and said, "There is also no prohibition on blogs operated by individual members as private citizens.

Incat Tasmania Pty Ltd and Revolution Design Pty Ltd are pleased to announce they have been awarded one of three US multi-million dollar design contracts by the US Department of Defense. Speed Vessel (JHSV). Marines, and SOCOM to pursue a multi-use platform. Robert Clifford explained. demonstration of high speed vessel technologies as well as for logistics support. Operation Iraqi Freedom. and Southeast Asia. region following hurricane Katrina. other platforms operating in the area. played a critical role in the early delivery of supplies. Timor crisis.