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
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
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
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
The mobile landing platform Lewis B. Puller (T-MLP-3/T-AFSB-1) successfully completed launch and float-off at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) shipyard on Nov. 6, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Marines are looking to employ new types of ships to extend the reach of special crisis response units into Africa, senior service leaders have told USNI News. Read More
Visit, board, search and seizure team members pull alongside the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) to practice ship boarding. US Navy Photo
In a rare bilateral exercise, the U.S. and China conducted anti-piracy training off the pirate-prone Gulf of Aden, the Navy said in a Thursday statement. Read More
2005 Image of a Chinese PLAN Song-class submarine. Via Wikipedia
China has sent a submarine to the Gulf of Aden to help in counter piracy operations — a first for the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) submarine fleet, according to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. Read More
PLAN ship Type 052C Luyang II destroyer Changchun enters the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Sept. 20, 2014. Fars News Agency
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) guided missile destroyer and frigate have docked in Iran on Saturday ahead of a series of bilateral exercises, according to Iranian and Chinese press reports. Read More
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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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
