Steve Higham News

U.K. Royal Navy warship HMS Defender provided escort duties for transatlantic ocean liner RMS Queen Mary II through the Gulf of Oman. The Type 45 destroyer, dwarfed by the enormity of the cruise liner, is equipped with an array of weaponry and radar tracking systems to ensure the safe passage of the luxury ship through potentially dangerous sea lanes. This was the second time in two days the Portsmouth-based warship had escorted a ‘High Value Unit’ through the area, The Navy said.

WHILE Royal Navy ships protect the London Olympics others have rushed to prevent a pirate attack in the Middle East. The minehunters HMS Middleton and HMS Pembroke were in the Gulf of Aden on their way home when they received a distress call from the MV New Delhi Express on July 27th. The 40,000-tonne merchant ship, laden with valuable containers, contacted HMS Middleton to say she was 12 miles to the south west and had suffered an engine failure. That meant she was an easy target for the pirates who operate in the gulf between Somalia and Yemen.