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Maritime Force News

27 Mar 2024

US Coast Guard Cutter Sea Dog Damaged

(File photo: James Kimber / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sea Dog (WPB 87373) sustained damage during the crew’s inbound transit from sea to the St. Marys River, Monday, the Coast Guard (USCG) said.The damaged cutter moored in Fernandina Beach, Fla., with assistance from additional Coast Guard assets and a commercial towing vessel, the USCG said.There were no reported injuries, damage to other vessels or environmental impact, and navigation remains unaffected, the agency added, noting the incident is under…

28 Dec 2023

US Allies Reluctant on Red Sea Task Force

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58) prepares to depart Rota, Spain, December 11, 2023. Laboon is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by the U.S. 6th Fleet to defend U.S., Allied and partner interests. (Photo: Alice Husted / U.S. Navy)

U.S. President Joe Biden hoped to present a firm international response to Yemen's Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping by launching a new maritime force, but a week after its launch many allies don't want to be associated with it, publicly, or at all.Two of America's European allies who were listed as contributors to Operation Prosperity Guardian - Italy and Spain - issued statements appearing to distance themselves from the maritime force.The Pentagon says the force is a defensive…

28 Dec 2023

Germany in Talks with EU Partners on Red Sea Maritime Mission

© Denys Yelmanov / Adobe Stock

Germany and its European Union partners are examining whether they could mount a new maritime mission to protect commercial vessels under threat of attack in the Red Sea, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday."We as the German government are ready for this. It is important that we as the EU are able to act as quickly as possible in view of the ongoing attacks," the spokesperson said, adding that a decision on the matter had not yet been taken.The Iran-backed Houthis have attacked or seized a dozen ships with missiles and drones since Nov.

27 Dec 2023

Shipping Firms Take First Steps Toward Red Sea Return

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

France's CMA CGM is increasing the number of vessels travelling through the Suez Canal, it said on Tuesday, joining Maersk in returning to the area after U.S.-led efforts to prevent attacks.The world's top shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes after Yemen's Houthi militant group began targeting vessels this month, disrupting global trade through the Suez Canal.Instead they have rerouted via southern Africa, a longer and more expensive journey.

26 Dec 2023

Shipping Companies Take First Steps Towards Red Sea Return

© Mariusz / Adobe Stock

France's CMA CGM is increasing the number of vessels travelling through the Suez Canal, it said on Tuesday, joining Maersk in returning to the area after U.S.-led efforts to prevent attacks.The world's top shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes after Yemen's Houthi militant group began targeting vessels this month, disrupting global trade through the Suez Canal.Instead they have rerouted via southern Africa, a longer and more expensive journey.

21 Dec 2023

Shipping Industry in the Dark Over US-led Red Sea Navy Force

(Photo: Samantha Alaman / U.S. Navy)

Shipping companies remain in the dark over a new international navy coalition being assembled by the United States to combat attacks in the Red Sea, with many vessels continuing to avoid the area or cancelling contracts, sources said on Wednesday.The sources, who include shipping and maritime security officials, say few practical details are known about the initiative launched on Tuesday by Washington or whether it will directly engage in the event of further armed attacks at sea.Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have since Nov.

15 Dec 2023

Warship Rushes in to Investigate Suspected Pirate Attack off Somalia

(Photo: EUNAVFOR)

A Spanish navy ship is sailing at full speed towards a Maltese-flagged commercial vessel that may have been hijacked by pirates off Somalia, the European Union's Somali counter piracy force said on Friday.If confirmed, it would be the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017 when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.EUNAVFOR's joint operations centre in Spain said it received an alert on Thursday about the "alleged pirate-hijacked vessel" Ruen, which was approximately 500 nautical miles east of Socotra Isl

26 Jan 2023

Mark Heward Named Director at MITAGS

Mark Heward (Photo: MITAGS)

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) announced that Mark Heward has joined its team as Director. Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.“We are thrilled to welcome Mark Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management and training experience together with being fully STCW qualified and his continuing education experience are a rare combination,” said Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director.

09 Dec 2022

Navy Veteran Joins MITAGS as Director

Mark Heward, Director of MITAGS - ©MITAGS

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) said Friday that Mark Heward had joined as Director of MITAGS.Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Heward Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management, and training experience, together with being fully STCW qualified…

31 Aug 2022

Iran Caught Trying to Capture US Navy Sea Drone

(Photo: U.S Navy)

The U.S. Navy said it thwarted an Iranian attempt to capture one if its unmanned surface vessels (USV) in the Arabian Gulf.While transiting international waters around 11 p.m. (local time), Aug. 29, U.S. 5th Fleet observed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) support ship Shahid Baziar towing a Saildrone Explorer USV in an attempt to detain it. U.S. Navy patrol coastal ship USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) was operating nearby and immediately responded. U.S. 5th Fleet also launched an MH-60S Sea Hawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, based in Bahrain.The actions taken by U.S.

06 May 2022

US Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk Decommissioned

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter CuttyHunk (WPB 1322) (File photo: Eli J. Medellin / U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk (WPB 1322) was decommissioned Thursday during a ceremony held at Air Station Port Angeles that was presided over by Capt. Mark McDonnell, 13th Coast Guard District Chief of Response.Cuttyhunk was one of the Coast Guard's 37 remaining 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. The fleet of Island-class cutters is being replaced by 154-foot Sentinel-class cutters built by Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards.Built by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La.

20 Aug 2021

Pirates Attack Cargo Ship off Somalia

(Photo: EU NAVFOR)

On Friday, August 13, EU NAVFOR ATALANTA Joint Operation Centre received an alert according to which the Turkish-flagged cargo vessel Anatolia (IMO 9005869) was under attack by a skiff with four or five armed persons on board.Reportedly, the skiff attempted to approach the vessel and opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG). One of these RPG caused damage in the vicinity of the bridge. After almost two hours of exchange of fire between the assailants and the privately contracted armed security personnel on board…

20 Jul 2021

Shipbuilding and The Navy Of Tomorrow

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt transits the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1, 2021. U.S. Navy Photoby Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Wade

In the United States, it is a frustrating time to be in the government shipbuilding business. Even though America depends upon maritime commerce and faces growing security risks at sea, shipbuilding is just not a major national focus.Up to now, shipbuilders have had it pretty good. For the past several years, big naval shipbuilders have enjoyed steady growth and strong performance. In 2020, Huntington Ingalls Industries enjoyed record revenue of $9.4 billion, an 8.5% margin and gave a quarter billion back to shareholders in dividends and stock buybacks.

20 Nov 2020

UK PM Johnson Outlines Plans to Build Europe's Most Powerful Navy

© Wojciech Wrzesień / Adobe Stock

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to restore Britain’s navy to its position as Europe’s most powerful maritime force on Thursday, highlighting that shipbuilding could also help heal divisions between the four nations of the United Kingdom.With repeated polls suggesting most people in Scotland now support independence, Johnson was keen to press the case for how England and Scotland can work together.He announced plans for 13 more frigates as well as committing to a new generation of warships…

07 Aug 2019

Japan: No Maritime Force Proposal Discussions

file image of a Japanese warship (CREDIT: AdobeStock / © JPAaron

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper did not have any particular exchange on the U.S.-proposed maritime coalition in the Middle East, Japan's top government spokesman said on Wednesday.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the premier and Esper confirmed the two nations would work on peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region as well as further strengthen the alliance between Japan and the United States.Suga also met Esper separately and the two didn't discuss the maritime coalition in the Middle East, either. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko;

02 Aug 2019

Japan Refuses to Join U.S. Middle East Coalition

File Image: a Japanese Naval warship asset (CREDIT: AdobeStock / © JPAaron

Japan will not send warships to join a U.S.-led maritime force to guard oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz fearing a military response from Iran, but it may send patrol aircraft, said the Mainichi newspaper, citing unidentified government sources.But Japan may send warships independently to protect Japanese ships in the world's most important oil artery, the newspaper said on Friday."We are closely monitoring the situation and continue to collect information while working closely with the United States and other countries…

31 Dec 2017

Australian Navy Seizes Drug Haul in Middle East

The crew of the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga have spent the Christmas season hard at work, spending nearly three days seizing almost eight tonnes of hashish and 69 kilograms of heroin from drug smugglers while conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea. Warramunga intercepted and boarded three suspect vessels between 27 and 29 December 2017, in an operation planned and coordinated by the Combined Maritime Forces’ Combined Task Force 150 which is currently commanded by Australia—supported by a combined Australian-Canadian staff. The illegal drug haul is the largest quantity of hashish seized by an Australian ship on Middle East maritime security operations with the overall haul estimated to be valued at around AUD$415 million.

01 Jun 2017

Pirates Attack Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman

Suspected pirates in a skiff attacked a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, MT NAVIG8 Providence, in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday and were driven off by the ship's security, the European Naval Force said. "There was an exchange of small arms fire between the suspected pirates and the maritime security team on board the tanker," the maritime force, known as EU NAVFOR, said in a statement. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri)

26 Apr 2017

China Launches First Home-built Aircraft Carrier

(Photo: Feng Kaixuan / Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China)

China launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier on Wednesday amid rising tension over North Korea and worries about Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea. State media has quoted military experts as saying the carrier, China's second and built in the northeastern port of Dalian, is not expected to enter service until 2020, once it has been kitted out and armed. Foreign military analysts and Chinese media have for months published satellite images, photographs and news stories about the second carrier's development. China confirmed its existence in late 2015.

16 Mar 2017

Somali Force, Pirates Exchange Gunfire

Somali maritime forces have exchanged gunfire with the hijackers of an oil tanker in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, the head of the maritime force said. This is the first time Somali pirates have taken over a commercial ship since 2012 and locals blame the attack on foreign fishermen flooding into their waters, and are also angry with their government for licensing some of the ships. "We tried to intercept a boat that was carrying supplies to the pirates, but pirates on the ship fired on us and so the pirate boat escaped," said Abdirahman Mohamud Hassan, the director general of the maritime force in Puntland. Pirate Abdulaahi claimed the pirates killed a member of the marine force and injured another, but Hassan said that was untrue.

01 Mar 2017

USCG, Navy Conduct Joint Maritime Security Mission

U.S. Navy photo by Daniel Kelley

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy completed an 18-day joint mission in the Central and South Pacific under the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative to combat transnational crimes, enforce fisheries laws and enhance regional security. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 103 from Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team embarked USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and conducted 16 fisheries enforcement boardings with the assistance of the ship’s visit, board, search and seizure team and law enforcement ship riders from Tuvalu and Nauru.

13 Jan 2017

Arunta Replenishes as Part of Combined Maritime Force

Deployed to the Middle East region, HMAS Arunta recently completed her first underway replenishment in the Gulf of Aden, in company with United States Naval Ship Walter S. Diehl and Pakistani Naval Ship Shamsheer. Arunta’s Navigating Officer, Lieutenant Stuart McPherson enjoyed the opportunity to conduct a replenishment with Walter S. Diehl. With Arunta on Walter S. Diehl’s port side and Shamsheer on her starboard side, both frigates simultaneously refuelled from Walter S. Diehl’s bunkers. “Opportunities like this are a great way to gain valuable experience and learn how other navies operate. I look forward to working with both ships again in the future,” Lieutenant McPherson said.

03 Oct 2016

Choke Points are Flash Points

Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 fly in formation above USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and the guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG 106) during an air-and-sea-power demonstration. Providing a ready force supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, John C. Stennis is operating as part of the Great Green Fleet on a regularly scheduled 7th Fleet deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Tomas Compian)

The world is closely watching several contentious flash points that have potential to ignite. The behavior and rhetoric of China and Russia regarding vital shipping lanes in international waters have been alarming. Disputed sovereignty claims and efforts to enforce them have the maritime world on edge. China’s nine-dash line claims about owning the entire East and South China Sea have created a dilemma for themselves and the other nations in the region. The Philippines v. China case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague commenced on Jan.