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MARITIME NEWS – 22 SEPTEMBER 2016 Welcome Home Ladies MARITIME NEWS – 22 SEPTEMBER 2016 Welcome Home Ladies A wonderful sight for locals today was the arrival home of SAS Drakensberg after a long absence and a day after her being reported to be undergoing repairs in Durban. Not only was she back at sea but she was followed in by SAS Spioenkop – the cherry on the top. Photo : Mike Loverock Tanker Collides with Philippine Navy’s Newest and Largest Ship BRP Tarlac (LD-601) Authorities in the Philippines are investigating how a commercial tanker veered off course and collided the Philippine Navy’s newest and biggest ship. The Philippine Navy said the tanker MT Tasco struck the side of the BRP Tarlac Monday night off the coast of Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. Reports indicate that the Navy ship was moored at the time of the collision. The Tarlac suffered minor damaged to its right forward rail and a side ramp. The tanker suffered mostly cosmetic damage to its hull, reports said. Damage to the BRP Tarlac. The Tarlac was only recently commissioned in June and is the first of two strategic sealift vessels (SSVs) built for the Philippine Navy by PT PAL shipyard in Indonesia. Not only is it the newest ship in the fleet, but it is also the largest in the Philippines Armed Forces, displacing 7,000t and 11,538t in standard and full load, respectively. The cause of the incident is under investigation. Source : gCaptain No more than a fender bender! As with the tanker – cosmetic damage only. US Navy destroyer commander shares his thoughts on Canadian-led Cutlass Fury The Guided missile destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) passes beneath the McDonald Bridge during a passing exercise to begin the at-sea phase of Exercise Cutlass Fury 2016. Photo: US Navy Cmdr. Stefan Walch is the commanding officer of USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer currently sailing off the coast of Canada taking part in the international exercise Cutlass Fury 2016. Undeterred by the exercise’s busy schedule, Cmdr. Walch has found time to take to the official blog of the U.S. Navy and share his thoughts on the exercise which you can read below. “Captain is in combat!” is a familiar phrase to any Sailor working in the Combat Information Center when the commanding officer enters, but also it serves as a reminder of the primary mission of any sea-going naval command – fight and win at sea. USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), also known as “Fighting Freddy,” deployed to support operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa from November 2015 to July 2016, during which time team Gonzalez was at the peak of core naval competencies, responding to multi-threat challenges. Throughout work-ups and deployment, my crew was tested and proved successful in multiple Fleet operating areas. Now with military allies in the North Atlantic, we continue to hone our built-in knowledge of the battlespace, connections among our network of partners and our ability to quickly respond to the environment. This month, we are now participating in Exercise Cutlass Fury 2016, a Canadian-led, combined, joint maritime exercise designed to promote and enhance cooperation in the Atlantic. This year’s exercise incorporated naval, air and land components from Canada, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. This exercise provided the team another opportunity to demonstrate the ship’s motto of “Beyond the call.” This motto serves as a reminder of our namesake and Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Freddy Gonzalez, who surpassed the nation’s call during the Battle of Hue City in protecting those he led over several days, while fighting enemy forces until he was mortally wounded. At sea and engaged in maneuvers with partner nations, the true test of our abilities is being run through the paces daily during Cutlass Fury. The exercise provides a forum for valuable training to enhance shared readiness and our ability to operate in the Atlantic. We’ve exercised air defense, maritime interdiction operations, weapons firing and most predominantly anti-submarine warfare. Recognizing the rapid rate of change occurring in both technology and the maritime domain, it is not lost on us that other world powers also see the value in anti-submarine capabilities and are increasingly conducting anti-submarine warfare exercises. We benefit from shared interests and objectives with our partner nations that have been fortified for decades. We continue to grow and maintain our team’s edge for combat at sea – relationships matter and we are building connections with the next generation of international partners who will stand the watch. There are still many training events to conduct as we head into the final stretch of Cutlass Fury 16 but I have already seen a marked growth in understanding among participating forces, demonstrated through our ability to better negotiate shared water and air space, and plan and act as a combined force. Passing through the midpoint of the exercise, with our network of partners, we continue to build capable and adaptable maritime partnerships that are beyond the call! Source : Naval Today Egypt receives second Mistral class vessel; first Gowind floated The Egyptian Navy has taken delivery of its second and final Mistral class landing helicopter dock, Anwar el-Sadat , while DCNS has floated the first of four Gowind corvettes for Egypt. The Anwar el-Sadat (L 1020) was handed over to the Egyptian Navy in Saint Nazaire, France, on 16 September in a ceremony attended by Egyptian Navy Chief of Staff Osama Rabie, the chairman and CEO of DCNS, Hervé Guillou, and the president of STX France, Laurent Castaing, together with senior French and Egyptian officials. It departed St Nazaire on 21 September for Egypt and en route is scheduled to take part in a joint exercise with the French Navy in Toulon. Arrival in Alexandria is scheduled for 6 October. Shipbuilder DCNS said 180 sailors have been training on the vessel since June in conjunction with DCNS, STX France and Defense Conseil International. In all, close to 400 Egyptian sailors will have received training in this way. On 10 October 2015, DCNS signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence of the Arab Republic of Egypt for the supply of two Mistral-class Landing Helicopter Dock vessels (LHDs). The delivery of the first of these two helicopter carriers, the LHD Gamal Abdel Nasser (L 1010) took place on 2 June 2016. By 2020, DCNS will have supplied seven combat vessels to Egypt. In July 2014 Egypt ordered four Gowind corvettes, and in August 2015 received the FREMM multi- mission frigate Tahya Misr . Alexandria shipyards is building three of the four Gowind corvettes acquired in 2014 – work on the first began at the beginning of this year. The Gowind built by DCNS was floated out of its assembly hall at the Lorient shipyard on 17 September. The vessel, Elfateh, is scheduled for delivery next year. Source : defenceWeb Fishing vessel and Royal Navy respond to Mayday to save sinking vessel Shortly after 1.15am Wednesday 21 September a 20ft vessel issued a Mayday call to the UK Coastguard after it began taking on water in the middle of the Irish Sea, 16 miles west of the Isle of Man. HMS Somerset and fishing vessel Stefanie M were a few miles away when they picked up the UK Coastguard’s Mayday Relay Broadcast asking for assistance from vessels in the area. Stefanie M and HMS Somerset ’s helicopter responded immediately to the scene and HMS Somerset altered course to make its way to the stricken vessel.UK Coastguard also tasked UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Prestwick and the Peel RNLI all weather lifeboat to assist the operation. The Royal Navy helicopter and the fishing vessel kept the sinking vessel under a safe wing until the arrival of the Lifeboat. Four persons on board the vessel, three adults and one child are safe and well and are now being escorted to shore with their vessel. Source: UK Coastguard Taiwan Asks Google to Blur South China Sea Images Taiwan's defense ministry said on Wednesday it is asking Google to blur satellite images showing what experts say appear to be new military installations on Itu Aba, Taipei's sole holding in the disputed South China Sea. Itu Aba is 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) in length and less than half a square kilometer in total area. It has been held by Taiwan since 1946 when Japan left the island at the end of the Second World War. Taiwan is conducting port renovations valued at $100 million on the island so that it can accommodate frigates and coast guard cutters. It is also boosting the island’s runway. The revelation of new military-related construction could raise tensions in the contested waterway, where China's building of airstrips and other facilities has worried other claimants and the United States. The images seen on Google Earth show four three-pronged structures sitting in a semi-circle just off the northwestern shoreline of Itu Aba, across from an upgraded airstrip and recently constructed port that can dock 3,000-ton frigates. Ita Abu "Under the pre-condition of protecting military secrets and security, we have requested Google blur images of important military facilities," Taiwan Defence Ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said on Wednesday, after local media published the images on Itu Aba. The United States has urged against the militarization of the South China Sea, following the rapid land reclamation by China on several disputed reefs through dredging, and building air fields and port facilities.
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