Other Navies News

03.09.2010 Somali pirates captured Norwegian tanker with 21 crewmen
Pirates hijacked tanker in territorial waters of Madagascar and are heading for Somali coast; the ship is registered in Marshall Islands. Tanker UBT Ocean sailed from UAE to Tanzania carrying oil. Communication with the vessel was cut off in Friday morning.

03.09.2010 Albania to sell sinking subs
Albanian defense ministry intends to sell two out of four Soviet subs for further scrapping. By this means the ministry plans to prevent their sinking. Albanian authorities are about to transform one of the subs into museum.

03.06.2010 Rasmussen thinks Russia won't use Mistral against NATO
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is sure that Russia will not use Mistral-class ships against NATO members. According to the alliance leader, he understands concern of some NATO allies considering historical background.

03.06.2010 About 50 vessels are stuck in ice near Stockholm archipelago
About 50 vessels with thousands of passengers were stuck in ice in the Baltic Sea near Stockholm. Cold weather and north-east wind resulted in vast ice floe off Swedish east coast; the ice hindered navigation in the region.

03.06.2010 Pirates agreed to release the British couple held hostage
Within nearest ten days Somali pirates will release British couple taken hostage in Oct 2009 near Seychelles. 60-year old Paul Chandler and his 56-year old wife Rachel were captured by Somali pirates when sailing coastwise East Africa heading for Tanzania.

03.06.2010 Intense security measures taken in Strait of Malacca
Intense security measures have been taken in Strait of Malacca after warning about the threat of terror assault against oil tankers sailing this world's most important sea lane. Vessels sailing through the Strait of Malacca are recommended not to reduce speed.

03.05.2010 BSF sore point will continue even with Yanukovich – expert
Cavils about Russia's Black Sea Fleet won't stop even after presidential election victory of Viktor Yanukovich, said Vladimir Mamontov, head editor of Izvestiya. Russia must fight up to the last ditch here since Sevastopol is really a city of Russian glory.

03.04.2010 Ukrainian admiral calls to "drastic measures" against BSF
Ex-commander of Ukrainian Navy Boris Kozhin called to "proceed to drastic measures" as for payment of all Russia's Black Sea Fleet debts. "We should prepare a bill for the Russian Federation. That sum should be recognized as Russian government debt for Ukraine".

03.04.2010 Somali pirates captured Saudi tanker
Somali pirates hijacked Saudi Arabian vessel with 14 crewmen on board. Tanker Àl Nisr al Saudi with deadweight of 5,140 tons was captured on Monday in the Gulf of Aden. No ransom demands have been received so far.

03.04.2010 New radar was set in Georgia
New radar made by the U.S. was put into service yesterday in Gonio, Georgia near Turkish border. That is US long-range investment assisting Georgia to protect national borders, said US Ambassador to Georgia John R. Bass attended at commission ceremony.

03.03.2010 BSF does not hinder investors - Sevastopol authorities
Presence of Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol is not an obstacle for potential investors. Sevastopol news portal offers a suggestion that Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal showed interest to buy Sevastopol port after withdrawal of Russian naval force.

03.02.2010 Two sailors were evacuated from Egyptian ship
Two sailors were evacuated from Egyptian vessel Wadi Alerat and hospitalized at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The shipmaster requested aid in Pacific Ocean 180 km off Kamchatka when two men aboard felt sick.

03.02.2010 Georgia hopes France to refuse selling Mistral to Russia
Official Tbilisi counts on France to consider Georgia's negative attitude to the matter of possible sell of Mistral carrier to Russia. Georgia has repeatedly declared its concern about Mistral sale to Russia.

02.26.2010 Pirates captured Indian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden
Somali pirates hijacked Indian dry cargo ship Abdul Razak with nine crewmen on board. The vessel was sailing from Indian port Kandla to Dubai. Yet there is no information of the cargo; status of captured crewmembers is unknown either.

02.25.2010 First Indian nuc sub started sea trials
First Indian nuclear-powered submarine Arihant has started sea trials. The sub was launched in July 2009 and started first trials at year-end. Arihant will be tested through the whole year; afterwards she will be commissioned into Indian Navy.

02.25.2010 France assured Lithuania Mistral would be disarmed
Being in Vilnius with official visit, French State Secretary for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche assured Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite that if France sells helicopter carrier Mistral to Russia, the ship would be sold without arms.

02.24.2010 Saakashvili: Mistral is Russia's bribe to France
Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili criticized France's intention to sell helicopter carrier Mistral to Russia. Saakashvili says the bargain looks like a kind of Moscow's compensation for France's tolerance towards Russian non-observance of a truce with Georgia.

02.19.2010 DPRK military to conduct firings near sea border again
North Korea intends to carry out firings near sea border. N Korean military reported via Russian maritime radionavigation service that they would fire from four points located at the country's west coast since Saturday till Monday.

02.17.2010 Bangladeshi Navy ordered two AW109 helicopters
Italian AgustaWestland won delivery contract of two AW109 Power helicopters for Bangladeshi Navy to be used in SR operations, reconnaissance and border defense. The helicopters will be delivered in 2011.

02.17.2010 US not to deploy ABM systems at the Black Sea – State
The U.S. is not going to deploy anti-missile shield at the Black Sea, although intends to place 3 SM-3 batteries at Romanian territory; however, final decision has not been made so far. Russia has been informed of phased adaptive approach to deployment of US AMD shield and implementation plans for its four phases which Obama told about in September 2009.

02.17.2010 US handed over tanker to Chilean Navy
American VSE Corporation handed over a fuel replenishment tanker to Chilean Navy which was named Almirante Montt there. The ship served in US Navy since 1987 till 1996 under the name of Andrew Higgins. The contract was signed between the U.S. and Chile early 2009.

02.16.2010 Ukrainian naval aviation started flights
Last week, first in current year, the scheduled flights started in Ukrainian Navy's Saki Naval Aviation Brigade. In total, pilots carried out 16 flights and were airborne for 9 hours and 18 minutes.

02.16.2010 Yanukovich's assistant: Ukraine could accommodate one more foreign fleet
Leonid Kozhara, assistant of Ukrainian president elect Viktor Yanukovich and main candidate for the post of Ukrainian foreign minister, gave an interview to Spanish El Pais in which he conceded one more foreign fleet to be based at Ukrainian territory.

02.15.2010 US declassified salvage operation of Soviet sub K-129
CIA declassified secret salvage operation of Soviet sub K-129. Project 629A diesel-electric submarine K-129 of Soviet Pacific Fleet sank in 1968 northwest of Hawaii in unclear circumstances. On board the sub were three R-21 ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads.

02.12.2010 Swedish Navy commissioned "invisible" ships
Royal Swedish Navy commissioned new-gen warships. Visby-class stealth corvettes are hardly detectable by radars and sonar equipment. New ships will be the part of Swedish rapid response force and be based at the Baltic Sea.

02.10.2010 Lithuanian defense minister to discuss Mistral issue
Lithuanian defense minister Rasa Jukneviciene, also temporarily acting as foreign minister plans to raise a question of France's intention to sell Mistral-class helicopter carrier to Russia at forthcoming EU defense ministers summit in Spain.

02.10.2010 Pirates released Panamanian ship for $3.1 mln
Somali pirates said the Panamanian vessel captured in Oct had been released for $3.1 ransom. Dry cargo ship Al Khaliq was hijacked by pirates late Oct 2009 in Indian Ocean 180 nautical miles west Seychelles.

02.09.2010 First Indian-made SSBN to be commissioned in 2 years
First Indian-made SSBN Arihant will be commissioned in two years after trials. During trials of Arihant Indian experts obtain valuable experience necessary to develop national program of nuclear-powered submarines.

02.05.2010 US Navy ordered new guidance systems for Trident missiles
US Navy tied up defense contract with Charles Stark Draper Laboratory to produce new guidance systems for sea-launched ballistic missiles Trident II D5 Mk.6. This contract is the part of program providing extension of service life of SLBM Trident to 2042.

02.05.2010 Ukrainian Navy Commander held a meeting on Zaporizhzhia sub
Admiral Igor Teniukh, Ukrainian Navy Commander held a working meeting on Feb 4 in Sevastopol on preparation of submarine Zaporizhzhia for mooring and sea trials. Main objective of the working meeting was rendering methodic and practical assistance to executive personnel of Zaporizhzhia.

02.05.2010 Israel and the U.S. conducted exercise at the Persian Gulf
Israeli Navy under the auspices of US Fifth Fleet conducted joint naval exercise at the Persian Gulf. Some time ago Saudi Arabia addressed to the White House a concern of Israeli warships deployed in the Persian Gulf. Americans have not commented the information about joint exercise.

02.04.2010 Somali pirates captured N Korean cargo ship RIM
Pirates hijacked N Korean-flagged cargo ship RIM at the Gulf of Aden. Cargo ship RIM is used for coastwise navigation and belongs to Libyan company White Sea Shipping. Having been hijacked, the vessel altered heading and presently sails toward Somali coast.