Navy News Week 40-5
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NAVY NEWS WEEK 40-5 4 October 2018 Nigeria Piracy Attack: MV Glarus update Massoel Shipping, Managers of Bulk carrier MV Glarus, attacked by pirates off Bonny, Nigeria on September 22, confirm that contact has now been made with those holding 12 crew members hostage. It is understood that all his crew are together and all are well and unharmed. The MV Glarus is now safely alongside at Port Harcourt with the remaining seven crew members on board Families are being kept in close touch with developments, the first and absolute priority being the safe release of the hostages. Massoel will not be making any further comments on operational issues as this could prejudice the safety of those being held. Source: Massoel Shipping Nigeria: High seas becoming safe, says ministry official The Federal Government through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA) is doing everything to ensure safety on the high seas, a top government official has said. According to him: “The seas are sullen and the Federal Government through NIMASA is making them to become more secure for the people who sail them. “Although the African ocean is genuinely quiet at the moment, the overall political direction of the current administration is directed to settle it,” he said. Piracy, cargo theft and crew kidnap in the Gulf of Guinea are reducing in the east of Malacca, he said. The number of people affected ran into millions and are adding significantly to the numbers of migrants entering Europe by boat from Libya – itself in the throes of a chaotic and violent aftermath of the end of the Gadhafi regime. He said: “More people have been trafficked this year alone through Libya into mainly Italy and Malta. “With the cost of a passage estimated at up to $1000 per person this implies a flow of funds into to criminal networks. Experience in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere has indicated a close connection between people trafficking, piracy and the trafficking of guns and drugs and that is why the Federal Government through NIMASA is working assiduously to make the high sea safe.’ The senior official however, explained that the super-connectedness of today’s world sometimes places limits on the extent to which the international community can always act robustly to preserve law and order on the high seas because the policy priority will always be stability and the winning of hearts and minds on land. Sending in the gunboats can sometimes antagonise fractured local communities and throw the internationally recognised political strategy off course. He added: “The use of armed guards on ocean going vessels in exceptional circumstances is likely to ebb and flow but will not disappear. “Nigerian Port Authorities (‘NPA), the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA have a critical role to play in helping responsible ship owners protect their crews and in support of wider initiatives to curtail movement of dangerous goods, illegal gun trafficking – in particular by ensuring that they have transparent, predictable and commercially practical procedures in place to facilitate the embarkation and disembarkation of lawful goods and firearms handled by properly certified private security teams. “These procedures, the official said, need to be dovetailed with the existing obligations and procedures as required by the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS).’’ Representatives of leading private maritime security firms at the event said the government the government, through its agencies is working round the clock to guarantee safety on the high seas. Source: The Nation The previous meesage on MV Glarus belies the above article. Photos Show Confrontation Between USS Decatur and a Chinese Navy Warship in South China Sea October 2, 2018 by gCaptain U.S. Navy photo showing a confrontation between the USS Decatur (left) and PRC Warship 170 (right) in the South China Sea on Sunday, September 30, 2018. U.S. Navy Photo gCaptain has just obtained photos showing a confrontation involving the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Decatur and a Chinese Navy warship in the disputed South China Sea over the weekend. The U.S. Navy confirmed the incident on Tuesday, accusing China’s navy of conducting an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” that nearly led to a collision as the U.S. destroyer was underway “in the vicinity” of Gaven Reef in the Spratly Islands on Sunday, September 30. According to a Navy spokesman, during the incident, the Chinese warship “approached within 45 yards of Decatur’s bow, after which Decatur maneuvered to prevent a collision.” As was reported over the weekend, the USS Decatur on Sunday conducted the U.S. Navy’s latest freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, coming within 12 nautical miles of the Gaven and Johnson Reefs claimed by China. China issued a statement Tuesday accusing the U.S. of violating its “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea islands. “We strongly urge the U.S. side to immediately correct its mistake and stop such provocative actions to avoid undermining China- U.S. relations and regional peace and stability,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday in a statement. Below is a sequence of photos showing the USS Decatur, pictured left, and the Chinese warship, PRC 170, on the right: U.S. Navy Photo Around this point (below), the two warships were within 45 yards of each other: U.S. Navy Photo The photos below show the USS Decatur maneuvering to avoid the collision: U.S. Navy Photo U.S. Navy Photo Source: https://gcaptain.com PLA navy vessel lifted off rocks and shipped back to mainland China after running aground in Hong Kong during Typhoon Mangkhut A People’s Liberation Army military vessel driven ashore in Hong Kong eight days ago by Typhoon Mangkhut, the most intense storm on record in the city, was shipped back to mainland China for repairs on Monday. Sailors from the PLA Hong Kong Garrison had been guarding the Nan Jiao 86, a 42-metre (138-foot) PLA navy personnel transport ship, since it got stuck on the rocky shore of Kau Yi Chau – an uninhabited islet 3km west of Hong Kong Island – on September 16 It was understood a tug boat and a barge used for the salvage operation arrived in the city from the mainland over the weekend. A government source said a powerful crane on the tug boat had been used to lift the stranded vessel off the rocks. It was then lifted onto the barge. He said the vessels stayed in the waters off the island overnight before leaving for Guangdong province on Monday. At about 6am on Monday, the Nan Jiao 86 was placed on the deck of the barge, and then the vessels left for the city’s immigration clearance centre to the west of Tuen Mun. “After immigration clearance work, the vessels left Hong Kong waters, heading towards Zhuhai for repairs,” the source said. The Nan Jiao 86, carrying at least eight PLA officers, ran aground about two hours after the city’s highest typhoon signal, No 10, was issued. The ship’s anchor chain broke. The big waves and the strong current washed the boat ashore. No one was injured. The PLA sought help from the Hong Kong Marine Department’s vessel traffic centre soon after noon. The centre then alerted police. Because of the adverse weather, no police were sent The Post observed some soldiers had been stationed on the rocky beach on the eastern part of the islet last week. Visible damage was seen on the starboard, or right, side of the vessel. Part of a cabin wall had been ripped open. The officers did not respond to questions about a salvage operation, only asking the Post to “keep a safe distance”, although they did not prohibit photo-taking. The Nan Jiao 86 used to berth at a base on Stonecutters Island, but it was anchored off Kau Yi Chau before the monster storm arrived. The typhoon was the most powerful to hit Hong Kong since records began in 1946 and at its height packed sustained winds of up to 250km/h, according to the Observatory. At its closest, Mangkhut was within 100km of the city, on Sunday afternoon. A Security Bureau spokesman on Wednesday night said it had received notice from the garrison about the “landing” of a military vessel at Kau Yi Chau to “take shelter” on Sunday when Mangkhut was lashing the city. The bureau said it had learned the garrison was arranging for its removal. Kau Yi Chau is an uninhabited, isolated islet west of Victoria Harbour, between Peng Chau and Green Island. Source : South China Morning post The Dutch Frigate F 828 Van Speijk navigating the Marsdiep off Den Helder Photo : Henk Spanjer © US Navy’s Nimitz-class carrier CVN 73 receives modernised radar tower A modernised radar tower has been installed on the US Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). The installation marks the completion of approximately 25% of its refuelling and complex overhaul (RCOH) work. The milestone has been attained by ship manufacturer Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division. CVN 73 is the sixth Nimitz-class vessel to undergo the major lifecycle upgrade and the first to have its new radar tower installed as one complete structure instead of two separate units HII Newport News Shipbuilding in-service aircraft carrier programmes vice-president Chris Miner said: “This is a significant engineering, planning and construction improvement. See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGgfVWiuTSY “This lift was the result of our digital shipbuilding efforts to harness the use of technology, including visual work instructions that allowed us to increase efficiency and productivity.