Here is a collection of photos taken from this past week’s Maersk Alabama piracy incident.  The images and descriptions are provided the U.S. Navy.  These are just a few of the many images the Navy has made available on their website HERE.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) tows the lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama to the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) [Continue Reading →]

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According to reports, the US Navy is moving a huge amphibious ship closer to the scene of the pirate hostage standoff off Somalia.  Here is a look at one of those ships, the USS Boxer (LHD-4). [Continue Reading →]

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“The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas.” -US Navy

I was contacted by a fellow US Merchant Mariner questioning why the US Navy did not protect the Maersk Alabama, a US flagged vessel. He asked “Has the USN written us off?”.

During my brief stint at the US Naval Academy I vividly remember being taught that the US Navy Mission (quoted at the top of this post) and the professor stressing that the Navy’s top priority is the protection of US Merchant Ships.

Today less than 400 ships fly the US flag and protection, although rarely the motivation of ship owners, is one of the few benefits to flagging a vessels US… alongside a long list of negatives. Out of these <400 vessels no more than a handful sailed the east coast of Somalia the day the Maersk Alabama was attacked.

My question is… Why did the USN not assure the protection of this single ship?

I do not have an answer to this question and I was even more confounded after learning the same ship got attacked on earlier in the week and it has been publicized that the recent change in tactics, by the pirates, were going to have major negative impacts on vessel security.

I have posed it on Information Dissemination, the blog that best analyzes US Navy strategy, but I would like to hear your thoughts as well. Has the USN written off protecting the US Merchant Fleet and failed to uphold their mission to maintain freedom of the seas? [Continue Reading →]

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At least 24 out of the 31 containers lost from the MV Pacific Adventurer during Cyclone Hamish have been found by the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Huon Class Mine Hunters, HMA Ships Yarra and Norman. Both vessels have been searching since March 18 using a Variable Depth Sonar in the vicinity of where the containers were thought to be lost. The sonar is able to detect objects at depths of over 100 meters and out to ranges greater than 500 meters from the ship.

According to a report by the Australian Navy, the containers were found at a depth of 120m and lying on the seabed close together, secured in groups of two and three, and are in varying states of condition.

On another note, some interesting discussion has started gCaptain’s Forum regarding this incident.  Here is an excerpt from the opening of that conversation:

Heibi Spirit, Cosco Busan… now the Pacific Adventurer. We may all differ on our opinions about foreign crews in the GOM but I think every mariner, worldwide, shares concern over the trend towards criminalization of the mariner.

Now some more pictures of the lost containers provided by the Royal Australian Navy (Click images for higher resolution): [Continue Reading →]

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Here is a collection of videos from the USNS Impeccable when it was approached by 5 Chinese vessel’s on March 8, 2009.  For more on the incident, read gCaptain’s full coverage HERE

[Continue Reading →]

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Information Dissemination brings us the news of the USS New Orleans and The USS Hartford colliding in the Straight of Hormuz: [Continue Reading →]

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China has dispatched a retired Chinese navy rescue vessel, the China Yuzheng 311, to patrol the South China Sea where last week the USNS Impeccable was harrassed by five chinese vessels, an incident that has sparked much debate over the area.  AFP tells us:

BEIJING (AFP) — China has dispatched its most modern patrol ship to the South China Sea, state press said Sunday, after an incident with a US naval vessel and a fresh claim by the Philippines to the disputed territory.

The Beijing News said the vessel would conduct patrols of what it called China’s exclusive maritime zone in the disputed waters surrounding the Paracel and Spratly Islands.

It said the converted naval rescue ship would aid Chinese fishing boats and transport vessels.

[Continue Reading →]

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We have already seen how the Red Cross and United States Coast Guard has successfully implemented Twitter in their effort to dissimenate information and update participants during times of emergency. Has the US Navy joined the social media revolution to help combat piracy in Somali waters?  Well in it’s own way (of course). Bloomberg Tells us:

In the command room of the Psara, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek officers watched a computer screen updating the positions of 17 warships. Another computer showed the location of 300 merchant ships, potential prey spread over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers).

The tracking is done with a mix of Global Positioning System navigation and Centrix, a military-communication system developed by NATO, as well as a Web site specially developed for the mission on which commercial ships enter their positions.

Since late January, Papaioannou also has had a new tool: a third computer in the command room carries an Internet chat channel. On a recent visit, sailors from the Psara, two U.S. warships and the Spanish frigate SPS Victoria were exchanging instant messages in English about their positions and about unconfirmed reports of a fire on board a boat in Somalia’s Mogadishu harbor.

In a corner of the room, which bristled with radar and radio equipment, hung a Jolly Roger flag. Black-and-white photos of suspected pirate ships were tacked to the wall.

The EU formed the Atalanta mission after Somali pirates in September seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and, in November, a Saudi tanker carrying fuel. Task Force 151 will grow to six this month with the arrival of frigates from Singapore and Turkey.

The coordination paid off on March 3, when the freighter MV Courier, operated by German shipping company Gebrueder Winter, sent a distress signal at 10:12 a.m. local time as it came under grenade fire from a skiff. Read More…

While the implementation of Automated Identification System (AIS) has been revolutionary in its ability to track and communicate with ships, AIS gives us only a small peak into the capabilities Information Technology has to change the way we operate ships. By integrating real time chat, the multinational forces in the area suddenly are able to coordinate their efforts, a powerful tool previously not available to them. Here’s an example of the problems they faced: [Continue Reading →]

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Homeported in San Diego, the USS Boxer (LHD 4) has been in the news this week for assuming the role as the flaship for Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, an international naval task force set up early this year to deter and disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea and currently includes naval forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark and Turkey.  USS Boxer (LHD 4) is to replace the USS San Antonio (LPD-17) as the flagship for CTF 151.

The Boxer, built in 1993 by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, is a WASP Class Amphibius Assault Ship and was officially commissioned Februaryl 11, 1995. [Continue Reading →]

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Why did the Chinese Navy harass the USNS Impeccable? gCaptain has been recieving a number of emails, Tweets and forum questions about this incident so I put together a short video walking you though details on the USNS Impeccable, the US Navy’s anti-submarine initiatives in the Pacific and the reasons why China does not want acoustic patrols in the region.

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Your thoughts?

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