P8 News

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is deploying two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and reinforce regional stability, his Downing Street office said on Thursday.The military package, which includes P8 surveillance planes, other surveillance assets, two auxiliary ships, three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, will be on standby in the region to provide "practical support to Israel ...

U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) conducted a bilateral naval anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise with the U.K., above the Arctic Circle, May 1, 2020.Four ships from two nations, a U.S. submarine, and a U.S. P8-A worked together, in the Norwegian Sea, to conduct training in the challenging conditions in the Arctic.For the exercise, Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and USS Porter (DDG 78), and fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE 6), were joined by the Royal Navy's HMS Kent (F 78). Additionally, a U.S.

Good opportunities for local port cities are up for grabs as a cruise shipping boom sweeps the Baltic. Both Rostock and Kiel are already profiting from it. Between them they are expecting 1.3 million cruise ship visitors during this year’s season – an increase of 12.5% over last year. The managing directors of Germany’s two leading Baltic passenger ports, Rostock and Kiel, addressed the issue during a news conference at the ITB, the world’s leading travel trade fair in Berlin. The Managing director of the Port of Rostock (Rostock Port GmbH) Jens A. Scharner and Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel  spoke about the trend to sea travel in northern Europe and about new developments in the two Baltic ports.

As part of "SIMBEX-17’, the ongoing Bilateral Naval Exercise between Navies of the Republic of Singapore and India, lndian Naval Ships Shivalik, Sahyadri, Jyoti and Kamorta and one P8-I Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft are participating. While INS Sahyadri and INS Kamorta are at Singapore since 12 May 2017, INS Shivalik and INS Jyoti would be joining directly for the sea phase of the exercise. The ships are under the command of Rear Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, YSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. SIMBEX is an acronym for “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises”. Bilateral cooperation between Singapore and India was first formalised when RSN ships began training with the Indian Navy in 1994.

One of the Royal Australian Navy’s largest maritime warfare exercises has begun in several locations off the New South Wales coast. Exercise OCEAN RAIDER involves 11 warships and submarines, aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel from Australia and the United States in a three week program of maritime activities. It is the first year Navy has staged OCEAN RAIDER, which along with OCEAN EXPLORER and OCEAN HORIZON are designed to train and certify the fleet in task-group-level joint sea combat. Commander of the Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer said Navy’s aim was to generate and deploy self-supported, sustainable maritime task groups by 2018 and OCEAN RAIDER was an important step toward achieving that goal.

1862 - Union Flag Officer David G. Farraguts fleet sails into New Orleans, La., after long preparation and fierce battles while passing through the Confederate defenses of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip the previous day. 1914 - In the first use of U.S. Navy aircraft in a combat situation, Lt. j.g. P.N.L. Bellinger made a flight from USS Mississippis aviation unit at Vera Cruz, Mexico, to observe the city and make preliminary search for mines in the harbor. 1944 - USS Crevalle (SS 291) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kashiwa Maru…

China's military carried out war games in the disputed South China Sea this week, with warships, submarines and fighter jets simulating cruise missile strikes on ships, the official People's Liberation Army Daily said on Friday. China claims almost all of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of maritime trade passes each year. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims. The U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander on Monday warned of a possible arms race in the disputed South China Sea which could engulf the region, as nations become increasingly tempted to use military force to settle territorial spats.

China hit back on Monday at U.S. criticism that it restricts navigation and overflights in the South China Sea amid a festering marine territorial dispute with some of its neighbours. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.. Freedom of overflights and navigation doesn't mean allowing foreign warships and military jets to violate other countries' sovereignty and security, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters on Monday, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused China of restricting such movements in the region last week.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) reported that the search for signs of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 aircraft in the Australian search and rescue region has resumed following a day of suspension due to poor weather. Today’s operations commenced with a total of six countries now assisting in the operation: Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. Assisting the naval portion of the search effort, HMAS Success and China’s polar supply ship Xue Long are currently in the search area.

The maritime industry has ramped up contributions to the worldwide search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as an international team scours for signs of the Boeing 777 which went missing nearly two weeks ago with 239 people on board. Merchant and navy ships have recently helped to relaunch a search in the Indian Ocean where Australian authorities said satellites spotted possible debris. So far, no confirmed signs of wreckage have been reported. Commercial maritime companies have pitched in to assist authorities as the hunt proceeds globally.