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World's Biggest Aircraft Carrier Sails into Oslo for NATO Exercises
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a U.S. ship, in a show of NATO force at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine.The ship and its crew will be conducting training exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country's coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said."This visit is an important signal of the close bilateral relationship between the U.S.
Greece: Alexandroupolis Port Gets $26M EU Funding
Greece has secured 24 million euros ($26 million) in European Union funding to upgrade its northern Aegean Sea port of Alexandroupolis, privatization agency HRADF said on Wednesday.Alexandroupolis, which is close to Bulgaria and Turkey, has been used by U.S.
Poland to Allow Military to Sink Enemy Ships Targeting Baltic Energy Infrastructure
The Polish government has approved draft legislation that would allow the military to sink an enemy ship targeting a key gas pipeline from Norway via the Baltic Sea following NATO's warning that Russia might sabotage undersea energy infrastructure. In "exceptional situations", and when other options had been exhausted, the military would be allowed to foil a terrorist attack by sinking an enemy ship or airship, the government said on Thursday.
Russian ‘Spy Ship’ in the North Sea Raises Concerns About Maritime Infrastructure Security
A new documentary produced by a consortium of public broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway has revealed what appears to be a profound threat to maritime and undersea energy and data infrastructure in the North Sea and the Baltic region. The Shadow War includes footage of a Russian research vessel called Admiral Vladimirsky allegedly collecting data on windfarms, gas pipelines, power and internet cables.The film…
Turkey Launches Its First Amphibious Assault Ship
Turkey launched its first amphibious assault ship on Monday, aiming to extend its drone capabilities from land-based to naval operations amid increased regional tensions as war rages in Ukraine on the other side of the Black Sea.The TCG Anadolu can handle only light aircraft, chiefly helicopters and jets that can take off from shorter runways. It is 232 meters long and 32 meters wide, and can carry some 1…
NATO's Stoltenberg, EU's von der Leyen Travel to North Sea Platform
The heads of NATO and the European Commission flew on Friday to a North Sea platform bigger than the Eiffel Tower in a visit underlining Norway's importance for gas supplies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Troll A platform extracts gas from Norway's biggest gas field. After a drop in Russian flows, the Nordic country last year became the largest gas supplier to the EU.NATO Secretary General…
Tom Cruise Visits Aircraft Carrier USS George H.W. Bush
One of Hollywood's biggest stars recently paid a visit to U.S. Navy sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77).Top Gun: Maverick producer and star Tom Cruise was joined by writer and producer Christopher McQuarrie, and editor Eddie Hamilton, along with Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, for the stop. The team led a Top Gun: Maverick viewing in the ship’s hangar bay and took time to visit with sailors aboard the ship…
EU Plans Annual Naval Exercise to Protect Subsea Pipelines, Cables, and Offshore Wind Farms
The European Union wants to hold joint naval exercises as part of plans to step up its efforts to protect critical infrastructure at sea, the EU environment policy chief said.Concerns about security threats to Europe's maritime infrastructure were heightened by attacks in September on the Nord Stream pipelines, which left them spewing natural gas into the Baltic Sea.The EU is set to publish an updated maritime security strategy on Friday…
Ukraine, Romania Agree to Check Depths of Danube Canals
Ukraine and Romania have agreed to check the depth of canals off the Danube river which Kyiv uses to export agricultural goods to try to increase the flow of traffic, Ukraine's restoration ministry said on Thursday.The Danube is an important transport route for Ukraine as it tries to export grain and other products following Russia's full-scale invasion a year ago, even though Moscow lifted a blockade of three Ukrainian Black Sea ports last July.Romania said last month it was concerned by signs
Germany Raids Suspected Ship in Nord Stream Pipeline Blast Probe
Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.The report…
New Intelligence Points to Pro-Ukraine Group in Nord Stream Attack
New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukraine group - likely comprised of Ukrainians or Russians - attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September, but there are no firm conclusions, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.There was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or other Ukrainian government officials were behind the attacks which spewed natural gas into the Baltic Sea, the newspaper reported, citing U.S.
Russia’s Inability to Dominate the Sea has Changed the Course of the War in Ukraine
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, most of the fighting has been on land. However, there has also been a less visible – but nonetheless crucial – maritime dimension to the war across the full spectrum of tactical, strategic, economic and diplomatic considerations.After land troops crossed the Ukraine border on February 24 2022, the Russian navy quickly secured control of the northwestern Black Sea.
UK Royal Navy's Experimental Ship Starts Sea Trials
The U.K. Royal Navy’s NavyX trials ship, XV (eXperimental Vessel) Patrick Blackett, left Portsmouth Naval Base to undergo sea acceptance trials - ensuring the vessel and its onboard equipment is fully functioning and ready to support innovative experimentation.The ship will be used by NavyX innovation and autonomy team to independently test and trial novel technologies, including unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles…
Defense Tech: Deploying the CUBE to Launch, Lay, Store Sea Mines
SH Defence of Denmark; DA-Group and FORCIT Defence OY AB, both located in Finland, signed an MOU to explore the potential development oflaunching, laying, and storing sea mines via the Containerized Multi-Mission Module system called The CUBE.“The CUBE System from SH Defence is rapidly becoming the standard within modularization of maritime mission capabilities for naval, coast guard, and SAR vessels around the world…
Stadt Naval inks Deal to Design and Deliver Naval Vessel Powertrain
Stadt Naval, headquartered in Gjerdsvika, Norway, signed a contract to design and supply complete electric propulsion solutions for series of new naval ships for an unnammed NATO country, the biggest contract in the company's history.Stadt's technology operates in STEALTH mode with guaranteed no electrical interference and no acoustic switching noise. This contributes to low underwater radiated noise (URN), and low signature for any vessel.
Mark Heward Named Director at 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…
Russian Pipeline Gas Exports to Europe Drop to a Post-Soviet Low
Russian gas exports to Europe via pipelines plummeted to a post-Soviet low in 2022 as its largest customer cut imports due to the conflict in Ukraine and a major pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, Gazprom data and Reuters calculations showed.The European Union, traditionally Russia's largest consumer for oil and gas, has for years spoken about cutting its reliance on Russian energy, but Brussels got serious after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February.State-controlled Gazprom…
Navy Veteran Joins MITAGS as Director
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…
Deepening Turkey Tanker Logjam Snarls Russia Oil Sanctions
Turkey emerged as a critical stumbling block to a complex international plan to deprive Russia of wartime oil revenues as the number of tankers waiting to exit the…
Are Unmanned Surface Vessels the Key to a 500-Ship U.S. Navy?
In an era of great power competition, navies – by virtue of their ability to span the globe and effectively deliver combat power – are likely to be the sine qua non of military power. This leads, naturally, to the tendency to count numbers of ship hulls when comparing the strength of navies. Lost on no one is the fact that the size of China’s Navy now exceeds that of the U.S. Navy, and the gap in ship numbers is growing.During the Cold War…