Panamaniain investigators inspect a Cuban MiG 21 found hidden on a North Korean merchant vessel on July 21, 2013. REUTERS Photo
North Korean officials have settled up a fine set by Panamanian authorities incurred after a North Korean ship attempted to transit the Panama Canal with containers full of illicit — but badly dated — weapons from Cuba, canal officials said on Saturday. Read More
MV Cape Ray (T-AKR-9679)
The Pentagon is preparing a ship-borne facility to neutralize of Syrian chemical weapons at sea, a defense official told USNI News on Monday. Read More
C-Escort, owned by Edison Chouest Offshore of Cut Off, La., is a sistership to the C-Retriever. American crew from the C-Retriever were kidnapped by Nigerian pirates on Oct. 23, 2013.
The two American sailors that were kidnapped on Oct. 23 off the coast of Nigeria have been returned, according several news reports. Read More
An artist’s conception of the Afloat Forward Staging Base. USMC Photo
Clarification: A previous version of this post included an out-of-date artist’s conception of the Lewis B. Puller.
General Dynamics NASSCO laid the keel for the U.S. Navy’s first dedicated design for an afloat forward staging base (AFSB) on Tuesday in the company’s San Diego, Calif. shipyard, according to the company. Read More
The following is an April 1992 U.S. Naval Institute debate on where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492 moderated by William F. Buckley, Jr. Read More
Image captured from a Sept. 4 video alleged to show memebers of the group Al-Furqan firing a rocket propelled grenade at a merchant ship in the Suez Canal
An Islamist terror group has taken responsibility for a Saturday rocket propelled grenade (RPG) attack on a merchant ship transiting the Suez Canal, USNI News has learned.
A video posted on YouTube Wednesday — alleged to have been issued by the group Al-Furqan along with a letter of responsibility — show two men with rocket propelled grenades fire at least one RPG round into the side of a cargo ship bearing the markings of the Chinese merchant shipper Cosco. Read More
Though the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd’s controversial tactics — popularized through the Animal Planet’s Whale Wars — polarize opinion between professional mariners and environmentalists, they are worthy of study as a maritime non-state actor. Read More
Lt. j.g. Jeffrey Fasoli, gunnery officer aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87), discusses techniques with Chinese sailors aboard the People’s Liberation Army (Navy) destroyer Harbin on Aug. 24, 2013.
The U.S. and China conducted two days of counter piracy drills in the Gulf of Aden in a rare show of military cooperation, following last week’s visit of the head of the Chinese Ministry of Defense. Read More
If Egypt’s Suez Canal is closed to commerce, an Arctic trade route to move goods between the Pacific to the Atlantic could become a popular option, according to a Wednesday report from the international shipping magazine Fairplay. Read More
C/V Carnival Splendor along side a Mexican Navy ship in 2010. US Navy Photo
The following is from the executive summary of the June 24, 2013 U.S. Coast Guard Report: Report of Investigation into the Fire Onboard the CARNIVAL SPLENDOR which occurred in the Pacific Ocean off the Coast of Mexico on November 8, 2010, which Resulted in Complete Loss of Power.
On November 8, 2010 at 0600 (Local Time), the Carnival Splendor was underway off the coast of Mexico when the vessel suffered a major mechanical failure in the number five diesel generator. As a result, engine components, lube oil and fuel were ejected through the engine casing and caused a fire at the deck plate level between generators five and six in the aft engine room which eventually ignited the cable runs overhead. The fire in the cable runs was relatively small, but produced a significant volume of smoke which hampered efforts to locate and extinguish it. In addition, the fire caused extensive damage to the cables in the aft engine room, which contributed to the loss of power. Read More
