British Army News

Yacht cruising company Atlas Ocean Voyages has held a naming ceremony in Ushuaia, Argentina for the World Voyager.The 198-guest expedition yacht was christened by Godmother British physiotherapist and British Army Captain Harpreet "Preet" Kaur Chandi MBE.The third vessel in the line's expedition fleet, the sister ship to Atlas Ocean Voyages' World Traveller and World Navigator, the vessel will now begin its inaugural deployment for the 2023/24 Antarctica season.The Polar Category C- and Ice Class 1B-certified vessel features two Rolls Royce 9…

The question on many minds this week is why did some of the world’s richest men risk death to venture to the bottom of the sea in a cold and cramped “experimental” submersible for a chance to glimpse the wreck of the Titanic?The “unsinkable” ship that sunk on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg is arguably the world’s most well-known boat. The Titanic is recognisable to more of the world’s population than, say, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (Christopher Colombus’s fleet that launched the Spanish conquest of the Americas)…

Thales is announcing a major commitment to develop future autonomous and unmanned technology across air and sea by investing in two new UK-based trials and training centers. Following Thales’s successful trials during the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise in 2016, Thales is now investing in two trials and training centres based in West Wales and in South-West England to test and develop autonomous systems for both military and civil activities. "Investing in these facilities enables the safe test…

Naval experts from around the world are meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Operations and Technology (OPTECH) South 2017 conference. The event is being conducted by the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Littoral Operations Center (LOC), supported by the Office of Naval Research-Global and the Colombian Naval Science and Technology Office and Swedish defense company Saab. The littoral is the complex “near shore” environment where hydrography, geography, commerce, fishing…

For much of the last week, the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has been patrolling the South China Sea. It is just the kind of display of Washington’s power and global reach that the U.S. Navy excels at – both to reassure allies and, in this case, send a message to potential foes. How much longer Washington will be able to perform such operations unchallenged, however, is an increasingly open question. Some military experts project that within a little more than a decade, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy may have more warships than Washington under its command.

Thales is set to play a key role in a major U.K. Royal Navy exercise later this year to understand how unmanned systems might add real innovative operational capability in a military maritime environment. Exercise Unmanned Warrior will bring together the Royal Navy and 40 organizations from defense, industry and academia in October, representing the largest exercise of its kind. More than 50 vehicles, sensors and systems from across defense and industry will be deployed the Ministry of Defense exercise centered around the U.K. coast of Scotland and West Wales.

Dynasafe BACTEC Limited has appointed Chas Reid to International Marine Services Director. Chas has been involved in Explosive Ordnance Disposal, both on and off shore for 27 years, starting with his career in the British army, the Royal Engineers EOD, active in the first Gulf War, the Falklands, Iraq, Kuwait and Bosnia, and from 1997 Chas has continued to develop his career at Dynasafe BACTEC, working internationally.

Babcock has begun work under the recently awarded contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide repair and maintenance to small boats used by the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army and MoD Police,. Babcock is one of the companies appointed by the MoD Commercially Supported Shipping (CSS) team to provide support services to the small boat fleet, including over 800 inflatables, five dive boats, ten Mexeflotes (landing raft/pontoons), and Gibraltar region police and patrol boats, under a three year contract with the option to extend for an additional two years. In addition to repair and maintenance services, Babcock may also be required to undertake spares provisioning, post design services which could include modification work, and storage.

The UK Government's Ministry of Defence (MOD) informs it has awarded millions of pounds worth of new contracts to maintain its 1,450 strong fleet of small boats. The fleet of boats includes offshore raiding craft, pontoons up to 50 metres in length, police launches, and Pacific 24 rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), and inflatables. Six UK companies will benefit from a 5-year contract that will involve support for 1,450 boats used by the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army, and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Police. The contracts will provide maintenance, upkeep, repair, chartering, defect rectification, technical support, provision of spares and replacements.

The Royal Navy’s amphibious aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious arrived in the Philippines on 25 November, 2013, after a short stop in Singapore to load up 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid under the direction of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Teams of personnel have been working 24-hours-a-day in her hangar to sort and pack the much needed supplies, ready for distribution ashore, and the flight deck has been operating constantly since the 23,000-tonne ship arrived.

Skye Maritime, a provider of counter-piracy embarked security guards, appoints Ben Smith to its management team. Ben served for 15 years in the British Army as a Special Operations reservist; he was also an attorney in the UK, appearing in the UK equivalent of District, Military and Appellate courts in over 2000 cases. From 2008 Ben served in Afghanistan and Iraq as a counter-insurgency operator and close protection specialist. His appointments included patrol medic and sharpshooter. He regularly delivers hostile environment training and threat briefings to major US and UK news networks, and still delivers weapons and tactics training to law enforcement, military and civilians as a consultant firearms instructor.

1775-This is the date that the Navy recognizes as it's "official" birthday. The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on 13 October 1775 by authorizing the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. The legislation also established a Naval Committee to supervise the work. All together, the Continental Navy numbered some fifty ships over the course of the war, with approximately twenty warships active at its maximum strength. After the American War for Independence, Congress sold the surviving ships of the Continental Navy and released the seamen and officers.

1789-  President George Washington was inaugurated in New York City as the nation's first President. His inauguration marked the beginning of U.S. Constitutional government. 1798-Congress established the Department of the Navy on this date in 1798. Nevertheless, the United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on 13 October 1775 by authorizing the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. In 1972 Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt authorized the recognition of 13 October 1775 as the Navy’s "official" birthday. Happy Birthday U.S. Navy.

Lloyd’s Register has appointed John Rowley as its new President for Lloyd’s Register Asia. He succeeds John Stansfeld who has returned to London to drive the implementation of the organization’s new Group strategy. Rowley joins the Group after a 14-year career with Ecolab Inc, a Fortune 500 multi-national corporation operating in the industrial chemicals sector, where he most recently held the position of Vice-President and Managing Director for Asia. As President for Lloyd’s Register Asia…

Friede Goldman Halter, Inc. announced that it has recently finalized six new contracts with a total value of approximately $40 million. -The Venezuelan government for the construction of two 153-foot LCU-type logistics support vessels. Financing for the project has been secured through the Export-Import Bank and all guarantees have been obtained. Construction for the vessels is anticipated to begin during the second quarter at the company's Moss Point Marine shipyard in Escatawpa, MS and delivery is slated for the fourth quarter of 2001. -Atwood Oceanics for the design and construction of a deepwater mooring system. The 8-point combination traction-winch/windlass mooring system will be installed on the Atwood Eagle…

As initially reported in the October 1999 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News, Ted Arison, a pioneer of the modern-day cruise industry, died in Tel Aviv, Israel, from heart failure. He was 75. Arison co-founded Norwegian Caribbean Lines in Miami in 1966. In 1972 he started Carnival Cruise Lines utilizing a refurbished former transatlantic liner. By the time he retired as chairman of Carnival in late 1990, the company had become a three-brand line, Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Line, and Windstar Cruises operating 15 ships. As the organization continued to grow, a corporate holding company, Carnival Corporation, was created in 1993.

Ted Arison, a pioneer of the modern-day cruise industry, died Oct. 1 in Tel Aviv, Israel, of heart failure. He was 75. A family tradition in shipping helped Arison gain the experience that would place him in the forefront of modern, post-war passenger cruising. The Israeli-born son of a ship owner, Arison decided to bypass a career in the industry for an engineering education. He entered the American University of Beirut at age 16, but World War II interrupted his studies. Joining the British Army, he served in Italy and Germany, attaining the rank of sergeant major. After the war, Arison's father died, and, as the only son, Ted was asked to assume control of the family business, M. Dizengoff and Co., ship owners and general agents for several lines.

A British firm is offering shipping companies the services of up to 300 ex-British Army Gurkhas to combat piracy, particularly in Asia. Anglo Marine Overseas Services Ltd. has sent letters to international shipping companies offering "anti-piracy embarkation teams" of four to eight Gurkhas. The letter, one received by Australia's Western Bulk Carriers, states the primary mission of the Gurkhas is to deter piracy, but a "secondary mission is to manage the event should deterrence fail against a determined boarding party". "These men are available at reasonable rates of pay and average 16 years British military experience," said the letter.