Naval Task Force News

Houthi rebel drone attacks on vessels traversing the Red Sea and Suez Canal route, accounting for 10% of global trade, have exposed the shortcomings of current ship alert systems.The unpredictability and increased frequency of these attacks have created a challenging security environment for ships passing the area via the Bab el Mandeb strait, posing a substantial risk to seafarers and maritime trade by endangering the safety of the crew and cargo.Initially focused on Israel-related ships in solidarity with Hamas…

The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday demanded Yemen's Houthis immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and cautioned against escalating tensions while implicitly endorsing a U.S.-led task force that has been defending vessels.The demand came in a Security Council resolution that also called on the Houthis to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated vehicle carrier linked to an Israeli businessman that the group commandeered on Nov. 19, and its 25-person crew.Eleven members voted for the measure demanding the Houthis "immediately cease all attacks…

Shipping traffic through the Suez Canal fell 20% between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2 compared to a year earlier, according to the PortWatch platform, after shipping companies began re-routing vessels in response to attacks by Yemen's Houthis.From Dec. 15, when Maersk became the first shipper to announce diversions, until Jan. 2, the most recent date for which International Monetary Fund's PortWatch has data, the number of tankers and cargo ships passing through the crucial shipping lane fell by 10%.But seven-day averages only began dipping on Dec.

The U.S. Navy on Wednesday said it was establishing a new multinational task force that would target arms smuggling in the waters around Yemen, the latest American military response to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Washington has sought to reassure Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who see the U.S. commitment to the region as waning, by providing additional military support in recent months following the missile and drone attacks on the Gulf nations.Fifth Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said that the task force would…

The Indian Navy’s third state-of-the-art Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, was launched by Reena Lanba, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba, , at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai. This historic event reaffirms the giant strides taken by MDL in the ongoing ‘Make In India’ programme, which is being actively implemented by the Department of Defence Production (MoD). The new submarine is named after the earlier Kalvari class INS Karanj, which was decommissioned in 2003. The submarine was then towed to Mumbai Port Trust, for separation from the pontoon. Karanj will now undergo rigorous trials and tests, both in harbour and at sea before it is commissioned into the Navy.

Large shipping losses have declined by 50 percent over the past decade, mostly driven by the development of a more robust safety environment by ship owners, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) fifth annual Safety & Shipping Review 2017. In 2016 there were 85 total shipping losses reported, down 16 percent from 101 a year earlier. The number of shipping incidents declined slightly year-on-year by 4 percent with 2,611 reported, according to the review, which analyzes reported shipping losses over 100 gross tons.

The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich left the port of Sevastopol in Crimea on Monday for the Mediterranean where it will join the country's naval forces deployed near the Syrian coast, a Russian source told Reuters.   The source did not provide further details. A Reuters witness saw the ship leaving its moorings in the naval port of Sevastopol.   The frigate was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea last November as part of Russia's naval task force to Syria where it launched cruise missile strikes against Islamic State targets.   The Russian navy was not immediately available for comment.   The Admiral Grigorovich is the first in the class of six frigates commissioned by the Russian navy in 2010 for its Black Sea Fleet.   Reporting by Moscow Newsroom

In September, 2016, an U.S. shipyard and the Canadian design business of an Italian-owned Norwegian shipyard won the largest vessel procurement contract in U.S. Coast Guard history. Now, Eastern Shipbuilding will build nine — and possibly many more — Vard Marine designs in its Panama City, Fla., shipyard. Early impressions are of a unique vessel not so unlike comparable European designs by Vard Holdings or parent company Fincantieri. An oceangoing hull of clean, classic — some would say Canadian — lines are the platform for an electronics and weapons payload designed…

The head of Europe's police agency said it would "look again" at the largest migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean this year after an investigation by Reuters and BBC Newsnight exposed a gap in the response by law enforcement. The Reuters investigation into an incident on April 9, in which an estimated 500 people drowned, raised "uncomfortable" issues, Wainwright said. It found that no official body, national or international, has held anyone to account for the deaths or even opened an inquiry into the shipwreck. Only 37 people survived when an Egyptian trawler capsized as its crew of smugglers loaded more migrants on board from a smaller feeder boat.

The maritime wing of the Australian Army purchased and installed a VSTEP simulator classroom for landing craft operations and navigation training at its Townsville base in Queensland. According to VSTEP, the simulator purchase was made following an enquiry from the Australian Defense Force (ADF) and Bohemia Interactive Simulations, a global software company providing simulation training solutions for military and civilian organizations. As a developer of certified maritime simulators…

Today in U.S. 1825 - USS Brandywine sails for France to carry the Marquis de Lafayette home after his year long visit to America. 1943 - Operation Avalanche, Western Naval Task Force under Vice Adm. 1945 - A "computer bug" is first identified and named by Lt. Grace Murray Hopper while she was on Navy active duty in 1945. It was found in the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University. The operators affixed the moth to the computer log, where it still resides, with the entry: "First actual case of bug being found." They "debugged" the computer, first introducing the term. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.

Today in U.S. 1941 - Japanese aircraft bomb USS Tutuila (PR-4) at Chungking, China; First Navy ship damaged by Axis during World War II. 1942 - Franklin D. Roosevelt signs act establishing WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). During World War II, more than 80,000 officer and enlisted women served in the WAVES. 1944 - Naval Task Force lands Army troops near Cape Opmarai, New Guinea. 1945 - Japanese submarine, I-58, sinks USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in Philippine Sea; 316 out of 1,199 crew survived.

The Mexican Navy selected VSTEP to supply a Class A NAUTIS Full Mission Bridge (FMB) Simulator and 24 NAUTIS desktop trainer stations for the Naval Academy in Veracruz. The simulators will be installed at the new simulator training wing of the Heroica Escuela Naval Militar set to open in Q4 2014. The Heroica Escuela Naval Militar is the school where future officers are trained for the General Corps of the Mexican Navy. In line with the expansion of the school’s training facilities, a new simulator wing is currently under construction.

Today in U.S. Naval History - July 24 1813- Sailing Master Elijah Mix attempts to blow up British warship Plantagenet with a torpedo near Cape Henry, Virginia. 1944 - Following 43 days of naval gunfire and air bombardment, Naval Task Force lands Marines on Tinian. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

Today in U.S. 1813 - Capt. David Porter claims Marquesas Islands for the United States. 1943 - Carrier force attacks bases on Tarawa and Makin begun. 1943 - USS Nautilus (SS-168) enters Tarawa lagoon in first submarine photograph reconnaissance mission. 1961 - At the request of President of Dominican Republic, U.S. Naval Task Force sails to Dominican Republic to bolster the country's government and to prevent a coup. 1969 - Navy astronauts Cdr. Charles Conrad Jr. and Cdr. Alan L. Bean are third and fourth men to walk on the moon. They were part of Apollo 12 mission. CDR Richard F.

A naval task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet is heading to the eastern Arctic, taking the Northern Sea Route (NSR) reports Ria Novosti, citing a spokesperson for the fleet. Led by the heavy nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky, the task force, which includes the large amphibious assault ships Olenegorsky Gornyak and Kondopoga and a variety of support vessels, has left its Severomorsk base and has entered the Barents Sea. The warships will take the Northern Sea Route to the Novossibirsk Islands and carry out a number training missions…

Today in U.S. 1825 - USS Brandywine sails for France to carry the Marquis de Lafayette home after his year long visit to America. 1945 - A "computer bug" is first identified and named by LT Grace Murray Hopper while she was on Navy active duty in 1945. It was found in the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University. The operators affixed the moth to the computer log, where it still resides, with the entry: "First actual case of bug being found." They "debugged" the computer, first introducing the term. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

Today in U.S. Naval History - July 24 1813- Sailing Master Elijah Mix attempts to blow up British warship Plantagenet with a torpedo near Cape Henry, Va. 1944 - Following 43 days of naval gunfire and air bombardment, Naval Task Force lands Marines on Tinian. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

From the Naval News Service:   1813 - Sailing Master Elijah Mix attempts to blow up British warship Plantagenet with a torpedo near Cape Henry, Virginia. 1944 - Following 43 days of naval gunfire and air bombardment, Naval Task Force lands Marines on Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands.

1813- Capt. David Porter claims Marquesas Islands for the United States. 1943 - Carrier force attacks bases on Tarawa and Makin begun. 1943 - USS Nautilus (SS-168) enters Tarawa lagoon in first submarine photograph reconnaissance mission. 1961 - At the request of President of Dominican Republic, U.S. Naval Task Force sails to Dominican Republic to bolster the country's government and to prevent a coup. 1969 - Navy astronauts CDR Charles Conrad Jr. and CDR Alan L. Bean are 3rd and 4th men to walk on the moon. They were part of Apollo 12 mission. CDR Richard F. Gordon, Jr., the Command Module Pilot, remained in lunar orbit. During the mission lasting 19 days, 4 hours, and 36 minutes, the astronauts recovered 243 lbs of lunar material. Recovery by HS-4 helicopters from USS Hornet (CVS-12).

VSTEP in cooperation with its Korean partner Dongkang M-Tech  have successfully delivered and installed a full NAUTIS Naval Task Force maritime simulator classroom at The Korean Naval College in Seoul, Korea. The classroom consists of 20 NAUTIS Naval Task Force Trainee Stations and Instructor Station. The Korean Naval College has selected NAUTIS for efficient maritime training and preparation of cadets and naval personnel in ship handling and navigation. VSTEP CEO, Cristijn Sarvaas: “NAUTIS is a new generation of simulation technology that meets the high standards of today’s maritime professionals. The Korean Naval College is one of Korea’s most renowned Naval Academies.

Virtual Training and Simulator developer VSTEP will be demonstrating its new NAUTIS Port Security Awareness simulation software during the Small Vessel Threats Security Conference from 28-29 September in San Francisco. VSTEP is one of the main conference sponsors and will be present at its conference boot to demonstrate its innovative Security Awareness solutions. During the Conference, VSTEP will present its training products directly related to countering the potential threats from small vessels.

1862 - CSS Virginia blown up by Confederates to prevent capture.   1898 - Sailors and Marines from USS Marblehead cut trans-oceanic cable near Cienfuegos, Cuba, isolating Cuba from Spain.   1943 - Naval task force lands Army troops on Attu, Aleutians.   1965 - U.S. destroyers deliver first shore bombardment of Vietnam War.   (Source: Navy News Service)