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British Royal Navy News

22 Jan 2024

VIDEO: UK Naval Ships Collide in Bahrain, No Injuries

FILE PHOTO: U.K. Royal Navy mine countermeasures vessel HMS Chiddingfold (M 37) participates in an exercise in the Arabian Gulf, Feb. 9, 2022. (Photo: Natianna Strachen / U.S. Army)

Two British Royal Navy mine-hunter vessels were involved in a collision in a port in Bahrain, the Royal Navy said.No one was injured in the accident which occurred in Bahrain Harbor on Friday, it said. An investigation into the incident has been opened.The Royal Navy is working with the U.S. Navy in the Gulf region in an effort to protect Red Sea shipping from an upsurge in attacks by Houthi forces based in Yemen.The Houthis say they acting in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas, which is locked in conflict with Israel in Gaza.

30 Aug 2023

Damen Triton and British Royal Navy Collaborate on Remote Monitoring

Source: Damen

Damen Digital Solutions and the British Royal Navy's innovation programme NavyX have announced a collaboration on the development of new solutions to enhance maritime operations based on the Damen Triton data platform.Damen will provide NavyX with its industry-leading Triton remote monitoring system and perform associated data collection. Damen delivered a digital twin model of the Damen Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 4008 XV Patrick Blackett that the shipbuilder delivered to NavyX in July 2022.

21 Nov 2022

Houthis Attack al-Dhabba Oil Terminal in Yemen

© Nicola / Adobe Stock

Yemen's Houthis attacked al-Dhabba oil terminal in Hadhramaut province on Monday, the group and Yemen's internationally recognized government said.The Iran-aligned Houthis fired a projectile from a drone that landed at the entrance of the terminal, which is located in the town of al-Shihr, two workers at the terminal told Reuters.Panamanian-flagged vessel Pratika had entered the terminal to load a shipment of crude but left after the attack, the workers said.The Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)…

17 Nov 2022

US Says Iran Responsible for Drone Attack on Tanker

An attack on a tanker off the coast of Oman on Tuesday was carried out by an Iranian-made drone, U.S. Central Command said in a statement, adding that a multilateral maritime operation led by a British Royal Navy frigate had responded to the area.An Israeli official had blamed Iran for the strike on the Pacific Zircon tanker managed by Israeli-controlled Eastern Pacific Shipping. The company said there was minor damage to the hull but no injuries or spillage of the gas oil cargo.A White House official earlier said the United States was "confident that Iran likely conducted" the hit using an unmanned aerial vehicle. Iran's Nournews, which is affiliated with the country's top security body, blamed Israel for the attack.U.S.

24 Jun 2021

Final Autonomous Minehunting Boat Delivered to UK Royal Navy

(Photo: UK Royal Navy)

The British Royal Navy said it has taken delivery of its third and final autonomous minehunting boat.RNMB Hebe, named after the ancient Greek goddess of youth, joins sister vessels Harrier and Hazard as part of the Royal Navy’s crewless minehunting program Project Wilton. Together, the three vessels are key components in the future of minehunting operations for the navy. The boats are capable of working in different configurations – manually, remotely or autonomously – to detect…

26 May 2021

UK Royal Navy Appoints First Woman Admiral

Commodore Jude Terry (Photo: U.K. Royal Navy)

A woman officer will be appointed to the rank of admiral for the first time in the centuries-long history of the British Royal Navy.Commodore Jude Terry, who has served for nearly a quarter of a century, has been selected for promotion to rear admiral, making her the most senior woman in the Royal Navy, past or present. The 47-year-old will be promoted to rear admiral next year and take over as the Royal Navy’s Director of People and Training and Naval Secretary.Of making history she says “someone has to be first”.

19 May 2021

UK Reveals the Names of Its New Inspiration Class Warships

(Image: UK Royal Navy)

The names of the British Royal Navy's five next-generation Type-31 frigates have been announced by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin. Approved by HM The Queen, the vessels will be named HMS Active, HMS Bulldog, HMS Campbeltown, HMS Formidable and HMS Venturer.Grouped together as the Inspiration Class, the names of the new vessels are drawn from former warships and submarines whose missions and history will inspire Royal Navy operations. The names also represent the Royal Navy’s future vision: HMS Active signifies the forward deployment of Royal Navy ships to protect U.K.

17 May 2021

Hat-San Lengthens Semi-Sub Barge for Malin Group

(Image: Malin Group)

A giant semi-submersible lifting barge is being lengthened and strengthened at the Hat-San shipyard in Turkey in preparation for a new working life with marine services and transportation firms Malin Abram and Malin Augustea in Scotland.Once converted, the massive barge will be one of the largest in Europe, and the only one in Scotland able to submerge and load vessels and cargo up to 12 meters deep and 140 meters long, the Malin Group said. With a submergence depth of up to 12 meters over deck and a deck space of 4…

03 May 2021

HMS Glasgow Forward and Aft Blocks Come Together

(Photo: BAE Systems)

The aft block of the first City Class Type 26 frigate being built for the British Royal Navy has been rolled out of the build hall to join the forward block at BAE Systems' shipyard on the River Clyde.Teams at the Govan shipyard prepared and completed a series of complex maneuvers to bring the aft block out of the HMS Glasgow block and outfit hall and into position to meet the forward block.The aft block contains the versatile mission bay and hangar which is capable of supporting helicopters…

29 Mar 2021

UK Navy Experimenting with New Autonomous Vessel

(Photo: LPhot Bradley / Royal Navy)

The British Royal Navy has taken delivery of a new autonomous vessel as the service examines the use of cutting-edge unmanned craft across a range of military operations including surveillance and force protection. The new vessel, named Madfox (short for maritime demonstrator for operational experimentation), was officially handed over to the Navy's experimentation innovator NavyX, who is working toward preparing the uncrewed surface vessel (USV) for a demanding year of testing at sea."With Madfox now directly in the hands of NavyX…

25 Feb 2021

RRS James Clark Ross Makes Its Last Antarctic Call

Last call of the JCR at Rothera (Photo: Alex Wallace / BAS)

It's the end of an era for the U.K.'s RRS James Clark Ross, which made its final call to Rothera Research Station in Antarctic on February 19 after 30 years of service. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the polar research vessel will be sold at the end of the 2020/2021 Antarctic season and replaced by the newly built RRS Sir David Attenborough.Rothera was the RRS James Clark Ross’s final call of the ship’s five-and-a-half-month mission to deliver scientific and operational staff to Antarctica, and to resupply the U.K. stations in Antarctica for another year.

04 Jan 2021

UK Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group Reaches Initial Operating Capability

Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC).
Photo shows HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group at an exercise in October 2020: Photo by LPhot Belinda Alker

The UK Royal Navy’s new Carrier Strike Group has reached Initial Operating Capability (IOC), meaning all elements of the group from fighter jets to radar systems to anti-ship weapons have been successfully brought together and operated, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Monday.Both the air and naval elements of the CSG have now met this milestone, which includes qualified pilots and ground crews being held at short notice for carrier-based operations and trained to handle weapons and maintain the equipment…

19 Aug 2020

Britain to Lead Training Program for Ukrainian Navy

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace arrives in Ukraine (Photo: UK MoD)

Britain will lead a multinational program to help train the Ukrainian navy, the Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday, seeking to bolster security in the region and improve Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia.Ukraine and Russia have been foes since 2014, when Moscow seized Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and backed a rebellion in the east.

05 Sep 2019

Bahamians Struggle in Dorian's Devastating Wake

A file image of Equinor's South Riding Point storage terminal (CREDIT: Equinor)

Stunned residents of the Bahamas surveyed the wreckage of their homes and officials struggled to assess the number killed by Hurricane Dorian, as the storm bore down on the South Carolina coast, threatening record flooding on Thursday.The United Nations said 70,000 people in the Bahamas needed immediate humanitarian relief after the most damaging storm ever to hit the island nation.Aerial video of the worst-hit Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas showed widespread devastation…

19 Jul 2019

Iran: British-flagged Tanker Seized in Gulf

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had captured a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf after Britain seized an Iranian vessel earlier this month, further raising tensions along a vital international oil shipping route.Britain said it was urgently seeking information about the Stena Impero after the tanker, which had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia, suddenly changed course after passing through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.The Revolutionary Guards said they seized the tanker at the request of Iranian maritime authorities for "not following international maritime regulations," state television reported.Relations…

12 Mar 2019

ConRo Ablaze in the Bay of Biscay

(Photo: Royal Navy)

Twenty-seven people have been rescued from an Italian-registered cargo ship that caught fire Monday night in the Bay of Biscay, about 150 miles southwest of Brest. The Grimaldi Group owned combination container roll-on/roll-off (ConRo) vessel Grande America was sailing from Hamburg to Casablanca when its cargo of containers and vehicles caught fire around 8 p.m.After attempts to battle the flames proved unsuccessful, the entire crew of 26 and one passenger disembarked into heavy seas aboard a single enclosed lifeboat and were rescued by the crew of British Royal Navy frigate HMS Argyll…

30 Jun 2017

BIMCO Names Philip Tinsley as Head Of Maritime Security

BIMCO has appointed Philip Tinsley as its new Head of Maritime Security. Tinsley joined the association in 2015 and assumes his new position after the sad and untimely death of his colleague, Giles Noakes, earlier this year. Before joining BIMCO, Tinsley spent 31 years with the Royal Marine Commandos – an elite specialist unit of the British Royal Navy, where he reached the rank of Major. His time with the military included both coastal and shore-side operations on a global scale and warfighting, with a specialisation in cold weather warfare. Tinsley left the Royal Marines Commandos in 2010, and joined a global risk consultancy where he managed offshore security in the Indian Ocean high risk area in support of seismic operations, which included two Somali pirate attacks at sea.

09 May 2017

Yemen War Adds to Shipping Fears in Horn of Africa

Photo: EU NAVFOR

Yemen's worsening conflict is contributing to a spike in piracy in the region, with Somali pirates taking advantage of a reduced international naval presence and more readily available weaponry to carry out attacks. "The regional instability caused by Yemen is important," Colonel Richard Cantrill, chief of staff with the European Union's counter piracy mission EU NAVFOR, told Reuters last week. Fighting between Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition has spilled over into the shipping lanes through which much of the world's oil passes.

15 Nov 2016

Hawes Joins TMG

Kevin Hawes  (Photo: TMG)

Kevin Hawes has started at  Seattle-based maritime services company and consultancy The Maritime Group (TMG) International Ltd., as Business Development Manager and Senior Consultant. Based at TMG’s London office at Victoria Embankment, he brings a wealth of commercial experience gained since leaving the British Royal Navy as a Lieutenant Commander in 1993. His appointment comes as TMG continues to grow, including a new website and recent ISO 9001 quality accreditation. Hawes' maritime experience was developed from 17 years in the Royal Naval Submarine Service to…

13 Oct 2015

NSSLGlobal Trials Wi-Fi with British Royal Navy

Satellite communications provider NSSLGlobal announced the trial of its Wi-Fi service across selected British Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships. The service, based on NSSLGlobal’s proven technology for the commercial shipping sector, but modified for the Royal Navy will, for the first time allow crew to use their personal devices to connect with friends and family through internet services and applications. The Wi-Fi service is an all-in-one access control facility deployed as a gateway for managing Wi-Fi hotspots to enable BYOD (Bring your own Device) to be rolled out to Naval vessels. It will provide the user with a secure, available, supported and legally and morally compliant internet service providing access over existing ship bearers (whether satellite, ADSL or 3G/4G).

16 Sep 2015

British Warship to Tackle Smugglers in Mediterranean

HMS Richmond (Photo: MOD)

A British warship could be used to target people traffickers in the Mediterranean as part of European Union efforts to tackle a growing migrant crisis, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. The government said it was offering the ship to board, seize and destroy vessels in international waters off the coast of Libya, where smugglers have taken advantage of political turmoil to ship thousands of illegal migrants to Europe. British Royal Navy ships have been involved in rescuing migrants but the government said it wanted to do more.

30 Jul 2015

UK Navy Chooses Effer Crane Again

Photo: Effer

Cranes manufacturer Effer informs its marine crane has recently been installed aboard the U.K. Royal Navy’s patrol vessel HMS Mersey. The new 5s 275M crane, similar to those already aboard HMS Severin and HMS Tyne, was installed the first week of June in Falmouth, Cornwall, and Preffered Marine, Effer partner for the UK and Ireland, was on hand to facilitate the installation and conduct final tests on site. HMS Mersey is dedicated to constant patrolling of both United Kingdom…

29 Jul 2015

Philippines Mulls Massive Military Spend

Philippine generals on Wednesday asked Congress to almost triple annual defence spending over the next five years to upgrade equipment amid an escalating marine dispute with giant neighbour China. The Philippines currently is in the middle of a 998 billion pesos ($21.95 billion) 15-year plan to modernize its armed forces in the face of rising tensions in the South China Sea. "The gaps between our needed defence articles and the levels of our current inventory are too wide to ignore," Brigadier-General Guillermo Molina told a national defence panel hearing at the House of Representatives. This year, Congress set aside 115.8 billion pesos, or less than 1 percent of GDP, for defence. Next year, the government has requested 129.1 billion pesos.