US News
In a significant move in March, the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson made an historic port visit to Vietnam, the first by an American carrier since the end of the Vietnam War in 1973.
The carrier took part in multi-national exercises under the auspices of the Pacific Partnership mission which includes co-operation with Canadian, British, French, Peruvian, Japanese and Australian forces in the region.
The American organisation DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) handed over the first prototype of what the US Navy hopes will be an autonomous sub hunting surface ship on 30 January. Sea Hunter is the result of the US Navy’s Anti Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program and is likely to create a whole new class of naval vessels that could remain at sea for months at a time without humans onboard. Sea Hunter is a trimaran hulled vessel with a displacement of 140 tons and capable of speeds up to 27 knots. As a prototype, the vessel carries no weapons, but is capable of carrying out surveillance over a large ocean territory.
German News
The German Navy recalled the latest class of frigates after they failed first of class sea trials and had to be sent back to the shipbuilders. Baden-Wurttemberg class ships are designed to replace the 1980’s era Bremen class in service. Sadly, the ship is the first vessel ever to be refused to be accepted by the German Navy from its shipbuilders following the discovery of a large number of faults and problems.
Around ninety percent of the systems onboard the frigate are new as well as the computer software designed to control them. The Atlas Naval Combat System, built by Atlas Electronik GmbH of Bremen, has reportedly, been particularly troublesome. Furthermore, the ship lists to starboard slightly and is overweight and its propulsion systems cannot get the ship to its designed top speed.
Indian News
The third of a planned class of six French designed Scorpene class attack submarines for the Indian Navy, Karanj, was launched on January 31.
The submarine was built by Mazagon Dock Limited and the ceremony was performed by Reena Lanba, wife of the Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.
South Korean News
The first of the new FFX-II class guided missile frigates Daegu was delivered on 1 February.
At 122 metres long the new frigate was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. She is the first of eight such vessels on order and is an enlarged version of the earlier Incheon (FFX-I) class ships that entered service from 2013.
More than 100 firefighters were sent to deal with a fire on the self-unloading iron ore carrier Iron Chieftain, 50,587dwt,
The International Maritime Industries giant shipyard complex at Ras Al Khair, on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, will come
Conflicting views as to what had been agreed between the bridge teams of one ship overtaking another in the Dover
In mid-May, the largest jack-up vessel operated by the windfarm installation company Seajacks UK, of Gt Yarmouth, completed work on
Five highly-complex heavy lifts have taken place on the Tyne by the Dutch deepsea heavy lift ship Aegir, 50,228gt, operated
In mid-June, the US Coast Guard carried out a special survey to see if a fully-laden tanker sunk by a
The BC Ferries’ Spirit of British Columbia returned to service on June 6 after a major mid-life upgrade which included
In June, a Liberian-flag bulk carrier and the US Coast Guard were involved in the rescue of two women and
The Maersk Group, of Denmark, has ventured into seabed mining.
Four new giant gantry cranes arrived at APM Terminals at Elizabeth, New York, at the end of April as part
The first liquefied natural gas import terminal in New South Wales, Australia, is to be built at Port Kembla by
The first of the magenta-coloured container ships of the Ocean Network Express (ONE) entered service in May.
China is to ban overseas ships being broken up at its demolition yards from the start of next year.
The plan by the world’s largest cruise ship operator, the Carnival Group, of Miami, to build an Au$158mn cruise terminal
British News The first four of Britain’s next generation F-35 Lightning supersonic fighter jets touched down in the United Kingdom
Russian News
Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, will be refitted to prolong the warship’s operational life.
British News Ahead of the American led missile strikes against suspected chemical weapon manufacturing plants in Syria in early April,
Japanese News It has been a particularly busy period for the Japanese with a number of new vessels being accepted
Condor Ferries has faced some speculation in recent months as its owner, Macquarie European Investment Fund 2, winds down and
The delivery of Irish Ferries’ new €144 million cruise ferry W.B. Yeats from German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) has been
Stena Line has confirmed that the first of its new RoPax ferries currently under construction in China is planned to
As Irish Ferries ramps up its Dublin to Cherbourg service with the arrival of the new purpose-built WB Yeats, Brittany
The Hamnavoe, Hrossey and Hjaltland had previously been chartered by Transport Scotland from Royal Bank of Scotland and operated by
Two German schooners based at Hamburg are regularly making voyages under sail with general cargoes across the Atlantic.
Thanks to Orkney Image Library for this view of the RFA Pearleaf.
A collection of fine images of coastal tankers delivering fuel to the Southern Scottish town of Kirkcudbright took my eye.
The Anna (see the print edition for details), like all Dutch craft, has a band around the outside of her
I was delighted to hear that in the Queen’s Honours List, published at the beginning of June 2018, the Merseyside
UK P&I Club, a leading provider of P&I insurance and other services to the international shipping community, has launched its
In May 2018, the future of Australia’s live sheep export trade was again under the spotlight when appalling new footage
In May 2018, P&O Ferries announced that it plans to lift capacity on its Zeebrugge-Teesport route by almost 25 per
Over many years Knud E. Hansen has been one of the world’s leaders in terms of ship design, with a
Loved and hated in equal measure by those who exhibit at the Cannes Yachting Festival, as it is correctly known,
The season begins with Southampton, now celebrating its 50th year which, following the demise of the London Boat Show becomes
Nicole Langosch has been named captain aboard the AIDAsol, becoming the first female captain in the AIDA Cruises fleet, according
When it comes to buying a superyacht, mostly owners will start with smaller yachts and progress in overall length towards
The steady stream of superyachts being launched in Holland is a very visible sign of the prominence of the Dutch
