In this video, BAE Systems Ship Repair located Norfolk, Virginia performs the first ever tandem drydocking of two U.S. Navy Aegis Guided Missile Destroyers.

BAE Sysytems said it took 160 employees nearly 19 hours to guide the two U.S. destroyers, the USS Mason and the USS Bulkeley, onto the Titan drydock. At 950 feet long by 160 feet wide and with a lift capacity of approximately 52,000 tons, the Titan drydock is the largest floating drydock on the U.S. East Coast.

The two destroyers, now sitting end to end, are scheduled to stay on the drydock until the end of April, where they will undergo a series of routine repairs and modifications for the U.S. Navy.

Artists impression of new British aircraft carrier

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has completed the latest components in the power and propulsion system it is supplying for the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

The final batch of Michell thrust blocks and lineshaft bearings, which will support the rotating shafts that drive the ships’ propellers, were handed over in a ceremony at the Rolls-Royce facility in Newcastle.

The forward motion created by the rotating propellers is transferred through the two Michell thrust blocks, which are secured to the hull and each weigh more than 20 tonnes, to move the 65,000 DWT ships through the water. The twin propellers deliver around 80 megawatts of power – enough to run 1,000 family cars or 50 high speed trains.

Line shaft bearings and thrust blocks for the new British aircraft carriers, image (c) Rolls-Royce plc

The propeller shafts run approximately one third of the length of the 290 meter ships, and Rolls-Royce has also completed the Michell line shaft bearings, which support the weight of the propellers and rotating shafts along the hull of the ship. During operation, the bearings are designed to generate a film of oil, which is typically around the thickness of a human hair, between the bearing surfaces and shafts on which the bearing loads are supported.

Jim Bennett, Power & Propulsion Director for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, said: “The Rolls-Royce facility in Newcastle has almost 100 years of association with the Royal Navy, and this latest contract marks a significant milestone for the Queen Elizabeth class project.

“With over 50,000 horsepower per shaft to transmit, these bearings are not without challenges in design and manufacture. The team who have built them should be very proud of the part they are playing in delivering such impressive and capable ships to the Royal Navy.”

Paul Seago, Managing Director, Rolls-Royce – Newcastle, added: “Completion of these bearings marks the latest milestone in the aircraft carrier programme, which has seen Rolls-Royce deliver an extensive range of highly advanced marine equipment over the past two years. We have now completed the supply of equipment for the first ship Queen Elizabeth, and are making good progress on the second, Prince of Wales.”

“These were the largest bearings we’ve manufactured for many years, and I would like to pay tribute to everyone involved for the part they played to ensure, like all other Rolls-Royce equipment on the project, they were delivered on time.”

In 2008, Rolls-Royce won a £96 million contract to supply a significant range of equipment to the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier programme, providing power and propulsion systems to both vessels. Since then, great progress has been made in delivering highly complex components that will be at the heart of what will be Europe’s largest ever naval vessels.

Rolls-Royce is supplying the ships’ MT30 gas turbines, which at 36 megawatts each are the world’s most powerful for marine use. In addition to the bearings and thrust blocks handed over today, Rolls-Royce is manufacturing propellers, rudders, stabilising fins and the entire low voltage electrical system for both ships.

The aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a unique partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the UK Ministry of Defence.

MARAD said in a statement that the two high speed vessels, the Huakai and the Alakai, were sold to the Navy for $35 million and will be used to transport troops and equipment to training areas from Okinawa, Japan and other locations.  The waterjet-powered catamarans can each carry 288 cars and 866 passengers.

MARAD became the reluctant owner of the vessels after their original owner, Hawaii Superferries Inc., defaulted on a nearly $140 million loan that the Maritime Administration had guaranteed under the Title XI ship financing program.  The U.S. Maritime Administration put the two vessels up for sale on an “as is, where is” basis in late June, 2011 and, in December, Congress gave the Navy the green light to spend the $35 million to acquire two superferries.

The vessels are currently docked at Lamberts Point in Norfolk, Va.

RFA Fort Victoria hands over 14 suspected pirates to the Seychelles for prosecution, image courtesy Royal Navy

A group of pirates caught by a Royal Navy operation in the Indian Ocean will face justice in the Seychelles.

RFA Fort Victoria – part of NATO’s counter piracy task force Operation Ocean Shield – has handed over 14 suspects to the islands’ authorities for prosecution.

The fourteen Somalis were captured on January 13 by Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel embarked on RFA Fort Victoria.

The suspected pirates, who were known to have been operating in the Indian Ocean, were intercepted on board a hijacked Yemeni fishing dhow.

They were found to have a variety of pirate paraphernalia and weapons on board, including rocket-propelled grenades and hand-grenades.

This is the culmination of four months of operations for the UK Counter-Piracy Task Group based on Fort Victoria and under the command of Captain Gerry Northwood.

“This has been a long four months of intensive counter-piracy operations during which time we have captured more than 30 pirates for prosecution and rescued 44 merchant mariners from the hands of the pirates.

“This success has been echoed by other NATO units engaged in counter-piracy operations and the handover of these 14 suspected pirates to the Seychelles authorities will contribute to ensuring the waters of the Indian Ocean become a safer place for all mariners.”

The "RHIB" with the suspected pirates is lowered on the RFA Fort Victoria. These suspected pirates face prosecution in the Seychelles for piracy. Image courtesy Royal Navy

Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

“We are very grateful to the Seychelles for their agreement to prosecute these suspected pirates. Their commitment to the fight against piracy has helped avoid a situation where these individuals were not held to account for their actions.

“In a few weeks time the London Conference on Somalia will discuss how the international community can tackle the many problems faced by Somalia, including piracy.

“Today’s agreement on the transfer of alleged pirates demonstrates what can be achieved through international co-operation and commitment.”

Danish ship HDMS Absalon, another NATO ship conducting counter piracy operations in the Indian ocean was also in the Seychelles, handing over four suspected pirates to the Seychelles authorities.

Over the last four years, piracy off the coast of Somalia has become an international phenomenon, plaguing shipping in the Indian Ocean and resisting attempts by the international community to contain it. Despite a high level international response that has included nine UN Security Council resolutions and three different multi-national naval operations, the numbers of vessels affected each year keeps growing: in 2007, there were 55 attempted and successful attacks by Somali pirates. By 2010, that had almost quadrupled to 219. Over the same period, over 3,500 seafarers have been held hostage, and 62 have been killed.

In January 2011, Jack Lang, a former French Foreign Minister who now advises the UN on piracy, warned that Somali pirates were becoming the “masters” of the Indian Ocean.  The first three months of 2011 saw piracy attacks worldwide hit an all time high, largely driven by piracy off the coast of Somalia. From January to March 2011, the International Chamber of Shipping recorded 97 by Somali pirates, averaging more than one a day. Fifteen ships were successfully hijacked and 299 crewmen taken hostage. The rise in attacks coincided with an increase in violence, with seven seafarers killed and 34 injured worldwide.  We note that some observers have attributed the recent rise in piracy off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea to copycat attacks, and that this is also a concern. However, while lessons should be learned from the experience with Somali piracy, such as the importance of swift intervention, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has on the whole followed a different model to that of Somali piracy.

Bringing Pirates to Justice

Around nine out of 10 piracy suspects detained by forces engaged in multinational operations are released without trial.  The fact that most pirates are simply returned to their boats or to Somali land has engendered strong criticism from the shipping industry. According to the Chamber of Shipping, “the repeated images of pirates being released without trial by naval forces, including by the Royal Navy, causes understandable derision”.  However, Henry Bellingham warned that these release statistics can be misleading, and that most of those released were not actually captured during an attack:

It is also worth bearing in mind that most of the so-called catch and releases have been the result of disruption activities with naval vessels going in quite a lot closer to the shore and intercepting skiffs. Of the cases of actual attacks on vessels and attempted acts of piracy that resulted in capture by the Navy, very few have resulted in catch and release, because if an attack has been made on a vessel, you have the evidence.

The Foreign Secretary also argued that disrupting pirates without detaining them still has merit:

Though unsatisfactory as an outcome, the pirates are at least temporarily disrupted as any equipment which could be used in a piracy attack, such as expensive engines, ladders or weapons, is seized and, most likely, destroyed.

The perceived failure to prosecute piracy suspects has been the subject of considerable criticism from some in the industry, who believe that prosecutions would constitute an important deterrent to the pirates. This criticism was voiced by the Baltic Exchange, which accused the UK of holding a particularly poor record:

The UK has gained a degree of notoriety within the international shipping community for its failure to prosecute those caught red-handed in the act of piracy. Once captured, pirates caught by UK forces are widely perceived simply to receive sustenance and medical assistance before being returned to the mainland unmolested. Seventeen countries (including France, Germany, Spain and the United States) placed more than 850 pirates on trial in the 12 months prior to April 2011″.

The Government has recently confirmed that in the past two years 21 pirates have been transferred to other states by the Royal Navy for prosecution, and between April 2010 and 11 November 2011, 60 further suspected pirates were released after being encountered during boarding operations because “it was assessed that a successful prosecution was unlikely”.  Since making this statement, a further seven suspected pirates have been detained by Royal Navy forces and transferred to the Seychelles for prosecution.

In response to this criticism, the Minister argued that prosecutions are indeed taking place, stating that “I can understand the frustration of catch and release occurring, but it is worth saying that more than 1,000 pirates are now in custody around the world, so there is no impunity”.

Practical Difficulties

Captain Reindorp described the considerable practical challenges of detaining and transferring suspects who are captured in the Indian Ocean:

You could be doing this 1,800 miles out into the Indian Ocean; it would take you five or six days to get a pirate back if you had to steam him back, and you may not want to send your one and only helicopter off to do that, because that might be better used looking out for and trying to deter and interdict pirate operations. This is not simply an issue of jurisdiction; it is also an issue of practice, which comes from the unique maritime environment in which it is happening.

He expanded on the choice between allocating resources to pursuing prosecutions, rather than conducting deterrent operations:

whilst all this is going on, a ship is not performing its primary role which is deterring pirates, so you have to decide whether you are going to chase an ever-decreasing possibility of a successful prosecution or go back and deter pirates.

Evidence

We heard repeatedly that a major obstacle to achieving more prosecutions was the difficulty in gathering sufficient evidence of the act of piracy.

Dr McCafferty stated that:

with a burglar in your house, you have evidence of burglary. The challenge in the Indian Ocean, as we’ve said, is catching the pirates in the act with the evidence. Where we have been able to put evidence together, the UK has been successful in prosecuting pirates, albeit a small number. The challenge is always finding enough evidence that will convince the local authorities or countries in the region to try to prosecute.  

As Dr McCafferty noted, the pirates are able to dispose of evidence quickly and permanently: “when they see a naval vessel approaching, they will often throw the paraphernalia overboard, and then we do not have the evidence which with to chase a prosecution”.

In addition to concrete evidence, witness testimony from those hijacked or under attack is important. The Minister told us that “The captain of a vessel has to be prepared to give evidence and you have to have crew members”.  However, this evidence is not always easy to secure: Captain Reindorp stated that even in cases in which the UK had captured pirates and liberated hostages, the released hostages were unwilling to testify or to travel to courts in the region. He also noted that:

“There have been occasions when we take a boat and the first thing that the pirates do is pretend that they are hostages. Actually, it is really quite difficult to differentiate between the two”.

It is even more difficult to obtain evidence that suspects intend to commit acts of piracy. Distinguishing between pirates and ordinary Somali fishermen is not as easy as is sometimes supposed. Captain Reindorp described the problem:

We have to be able to differentiate four Somali gentlemen in a small boat with AK47s, which they will usually say that they carry for self-protection from pirates, from pirates, who may well also look like four Somali gentlemen in the same boat, with exactly the same weapons.

Even if suitable evidence is found, a number of states in the region do not have laws against going equipped or with intent to commit piracy, but only against an act of piracy itself. The Minister told us that four states in the region had a law against going equipped or going with intent, and that “what we want is for countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius to change their laws as well”.

We conclude that gathering evidence to secure a successful prosecution for piracy is challenging. However, not all claims made by the Government about the difficulty in securing evidence were wholly convincing: when pirates are observed in boats with guns, ladders and even hostages, it beggars belief that they cannot be prosecuted, assuming that states have the necessary laws in place and the will to do so. We urge the Government to pursue alternative means of securing suitable evidence (such as photos or video recordings of pirates with equipment, and supplying witness testimony by videolink). We urge the Government to engage with regional states to agree consistent and attainable rules on evidence required for a piracy prosecution.

For the entire report, including references, please click here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Act of Valor” is a 2-year project by film producers Mouse McCoy and Scott Waugh who were granted unprecedented access to the US Navy SEAL community to film the most accurate depiction of the pace and energy involved in real life Navy Special Warfare operations starring active duty SEAL operators.

“They wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t real and authentic”, says producer Scott Waugh.

An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Actor of Valor stars a group of active-duty US Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism.  Inspired by true events, the film combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the-minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure.

Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of the most elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world.  When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt.  As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and would thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team, and their families back home.

It’s pretty much that simple.  

At President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last night, he gave Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta a hearty “Good Job” as he was shaking hands before the speech.

Besides the Secretary of State standing close by, few others knew what he was referring to until shortly after his speech, President Obama called the parents of Jessica Buchanan, an American held hostage by Somali kidnappers, that a US Navy SEAL team had successfully rescued her and fellow aid worker, Poul Hagen Thisted.

During the operation, 9 Somalis were killed with zero injuries to the American rescue force or to the hostages.

Special forces decided to mount the raid when they did at least partly because Buchanan’s health was failing, Vice President Joe Biden said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“It just takes your breath away, their capacity and their bravery and their incredible timing,” Biden said of these Special Warfare operators.

The two aid workers from the Danish Refugee Council’s demining unit, DDG, are both unharmed and were reportedly flown to an American base in Djibouti, a small country on the western end of the Gulf of Aden.

***UPDATE***  Statement by President Obama on the Successful Hostage Rescue

On Monday, I authorized an operation to rescue Jessica Buchanan, an American citizen who was kidnapped and held against her will for three months in Somalia. Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations Forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home. As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts.

Jessica Buchanan was selflessly serving her fellow human beings when she was taken hostage by criminals and pirates who showed no regard for her health and well-being. Last night I spoke with Jessica Buchanan’s father and told him that all Americans have Jessica in our thoughts and prayers, and give thanks that she will soon be reunited with her family. The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice. This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people.

This video released today by the Pentagon shows Iranian naval patrol vessels “harassing” the USS New Orleans while sailing in the Strait of Hormuz on January 6. In the video you can see at least 3 vessels speeding alongside the New Orleans and a closeup of one of the vessels reveals an Iranian flag and front mounted machine gun.  ”I can confirm there was some harassment,” a senior U.S. Defense official told AFP, confirming CNN, who first reported the incident.

The same report by CNN said that there was also a second, similar incident involving a US Coast Guard cutter off the Kuwaiti coast.

On the same day, U.S. Naval forces aboard the USS Kidd rescued 13 Iranian fisherman that had been held hostage by pirates in the Arabian Sea.

Iranian speed boats

The USS New Orleans

Pirates Surrender, image courtesy EUNAVFOR

At first light on 12 January 2012, having just completed the escort of a World Food Program ship carrying food-aid into Somalia and while operating close to the Somali port of Mogadishu, the EU NAVFOR Flagship, the ESPS PATINO, was approached by one skiff with a group of suspected pirates onboard.

The suspected pirates opened fire with light calibre weapons and tried to board the PATINO. The ship’s force-protection team returned fire in self-defense and the ship’s helicopter was launched.

The skiff broke off the attack and the men surrendered to the helicopter after throwing their weapons, ladder and fuel barrels overboard.

Five of the six men who were in the skiff had received injuries, two of which required medical treatment onboard the SPS PATINO.

Investigations are ongoing to check whether the suspect pirates’ report that a seventh man who had been in the skiff and who was lost overboard during the attack are correct.

Image courtesy AustalUSA

On January 10, 2012, Austal’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard completed the launch of the second 127-metre Independence-Variant Littoral Combat Ship, “Coronado” (LCS 4).

The roll-out marked Austal’s second use of an innovative self-propelled modular transporter system to transfer the ship from the yard’s final assembly bay onto a drydock for launch. This system was first used a few months ago, in September 2011, to successfully launch USNS “Spearhead” (JHSV 1). Austal and the US Navy collaborated in the design of a new set of keel stands to support the ship during construction and facilitate the transition from the assembly bay. Austal’s own self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) supplemented those of Berard Transportation of New Iberia, LA, to provide a total of 3,800 tons lift capacity, on some 104 axle lines.

In a three-step process, SPMTs lifted the entire ship and keel stands lifted the Coronado almost three feet and moved the Littoral Combat Ship into the moored dry dock. Supporting close to 2,000 tons, the SPMT operators; aided by tug captains; the dock master and the Austal launch master manoeuvred “Coronado” aboard the dry dock in an incident-free operation.

A major improvement in safety and efficiency, the new roll-out method has shaved hours off the transfer process, and serves as a capstone in Austal’s effort to reduce cost and time required in future LCS deliveries.

The LCS and dry dock were then transported down river by tug to BAE Systems Southeast Shipyard, Mobile, where the ship was ultimately floated free of the keel stands, and was manoeuvred from the drydock. The vessel was then towed back upriver to Austal’s facility, where it will undergo final outfitting and activation before sea trials and delivery to the US Navy.

Image courtesy AustalUSA

The 127-metre Austal trimaran seaframe is the platform for the LCS’s mission and weapon systems. This seaframe provides superior seakeeping and aviation as a result of its long, slender central hull and smaller side hulls (“amahs”). The trimaran hullform provides a large internal mission deck with a high payload carrying capacity. Located above the mission bay is the enormous flight deck capable of conducting dual H-60 helicopter operations. The vertical location of the flight deck on the trimaran hull form provides the highest flight deck elevation on a combatant ship other than a major amphibious vessel or aircraft carrier.

The launch of “Coronado” (LCS 4) closely follows the christening of the 103-metre USNS “Spearhead” (JHSV 1) and the celebration of the keel laying ceremony for “Choctaw County” (JHSV 2). Modular construction has also begun on JHSV 3 and “Jackson” (LCS 6) – the first of the 10-ship US Navy contract awarded to Austal, as the prime contractor, a year ago – in Austal’s 65,000 square metre Module Manufacturing Facility (MMF). Austal also has “Montgomery” (LCS 8) and JHSV 3 through JHSV 7 under contract.

For the LCS and JHSV programs, Austal is working in a partnership with General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics. As the ship systems integrator, General Dynamics is responsible for the design, integration and testing of the ship’s electronic systems including the combat system, networks, and seaframe control. General Dynamics’ proven open architecture approach provides affordable capabilities to the fleet quickly and efficiently.