The following is a Government Accountability Office report on African Piracy released on June 19, 2014. The report concludes, “U.S. agencies have not systematically assessed the costs and benefits of their counterpiracy efforts.”
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Category Archives: Merchant Marine
D-Day at 70: The Port of Omaha Beach
Naval Reserve Captain Edmond J. Moran receives urgent and specific instructions from Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Dwight D. Eisenhower on board the destroyer USS Thompson after D-Day. The general ordered Moran back to the United States “for more supplies and equipment to keep the invasion going.”
The following post is from the June, 2014 issue of Proceedings. The article was originally titled, ‘A Project So Unique.’ Read More
China Claims U.S. Is Encouraging ‘Dangerous and Provocative Actions’ in Oilrig Standoff
File photo of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oilrig. Xinhua Photo
Chinese officials are claiming the U.S. is stoking international discord over a disputed drilling operation in an area of the South China Sea in territory claimed by both China and Vietnam, according to a Tuesday statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Read More
The World’s Most Violent Pirates
An undated photo of West African pirates.
West Africa is home to the world’s most violent pirates—who are now capable of overwhelming armed guards. Last month pirates killed a crewmember during an attack on German-owned oil tanker. Instead of fighting off the pirates, the embarked security team retreated to the ship’s citadel safe room. Read More
Officials: ‘Illegal’ Chinese Oilrig is in Vietnamese Waters
China National Offshore Oil Corporation Oil rig. CNOOC Photo
Vietnamese officals are calling the presence of an offshore Chinese oilrig off the coast of Vietnam “illegal and invalid,” fueling ongoing territorial disputes between Hanoi and Beijing, according to a Monday report by the Reuters wire service. Read More
Panamanian Official: North Korea ‘Paid Fine in Cash’ to Free Secret Arms Ship
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
Pentagon Readies Ship for Syrian Chemical Weapons Disposal
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
Report: Kidnapped American Sailors Released After Ransom Paid
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
Updated: Keel Laid for First Dedicated Afloat Forward Staging Base
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
Video: Naval Institute’s Christopher Columbus Debate
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
