International forces are set to assess the situation of an oil tanker allegedly seized by Somali pirates on Monday, a U.S. defense official told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
Category Archives: Piracy
Unauthorized Fireworks, Unlawful Gambling on USS Bainbridge Leads to Relief of Leadership Triad
Former Bainbridge CO Cmdr. Sean Ronger, XO Cmdr. Brandon Murray and CMC Richard Holmes were relieved from their jobs on the ship April 8, 2016, according to the service
The senior leadership of the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) – the ship best known for its role in the 2009 M/V Maersk Alabama piracy incident off Somalia – was relieved on Friday for tolerating gambling and storage of unauthorized fireworks on its last deployment, USNI News has learned. Read More
Opinion: ISIS, Russia and NATO’s Evolving Threat in the Mediterranean
A screengrab of an Islamic State propaganda video of militants in Nawfaliyah, Libya in 2015. Image via The Long War Journal
At the Surface Warship Summit in Bucharest, Romania, from Jan. 26 to 28, the commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, Vice Adm. Clive Johnstone expressed concerns regarding several escalating situations in the Mediterranean. Read More
Document: U.N. Report on Somali Piracy
The following is an Oct. 12, 2015 overview of Somali piracy off the Gulf of Aden issued by the United Nations. Read More
Crew of Iranian Frigate Points Weapons at U.S. Navy Helo, Coalition Auxiliary
A starboard beam view of an Iranian Alvand class frigate underway. US Navy Photo
The crew of an Iranian frigate briefly trained crew served weapons on a U.S. Navy helicopter and a coalition auxiliary ship during a July 25 incident in the Gulf of Aden, an U.S. Navy official told USNI News on Wednesday. Read More
Essay: Quantifying Piracy Trends in the Gulf of Guinea — Who’s Right and Who’s Wrong?
Opinion: The Forgotten Fleet of The U.S. Coast Guard
The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf departs from Dutch Harbor May 9, 2011, to continue its first Alaska patrol in the Bering Sea. US Coast Guard Photo
Over the past few years there has been much debate in Congress and in the Department of Defense over the requirement to maintain a Navy fleet that will be able to respond to the increasing demands of the combatant commanders. Read More
From the East India Company to Disney to the Cola Wars: A Brief Collection of Non-State Navies
Ships on the high seas can largely be split between two major caregories, merchant ships that connect countries through commerce and national navies formed to ensure that trade continues to flow.
However, in the margins between those two broad groups are fleets that have sought to influence international policy and politics independent of a national flag — non-state navies. Read More
Panel: ISIS, Al Qaeda Franchising Efforts Changed the Face of Terrorism
Members of the hardline al Shabaab Islamist rebel group hold their weapons in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, January 1, 2010. Somalia’s hardline Islamist rebel group al Shabaab said on Friday it was ready to send reinforcement to al Qaeda in Yemen should the U.S. carry out retaliatory strikes, and urged other Muslims to follow suit. Reuters Photo
Creating franchises among groups claiming affiliation with al Qaeda or the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is among the biggest change in international terrorism, two leading experts told the Atlantic Council on Thursday. Read More
U.S. 7th Fleet Would Support ASEAN South China Sea Patrols
Vice Adm. Robert Thomas, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, delivers remarks during a change of command ceremony aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73). US Navy Photo
The head of U.S. naval forces in the Western Pacific said the U.S. would support an emerging plan to create multi-national patrols in the South China Sea that could bear similarities to anti-piracy patrols in the Strait of Malacca. Read More
