Category: Headlines

About the term Shadow Fleet - Dark Fleet - Grey Fleet

An introduction to the term and its meaning The term "shadow fleet" is frequently used and has recently hit the headlines in connection with the involvement of Western shipping companies. We want to clarify the terminology and the background. To this end, we are referring to an article by the Naval Shipping Administration, which deals with the special situation of the Russian shadow fleet in the Baltic Sea and was published on bundeswehr.org in the past few days. The article focuses on the Russian shadow fleet, which has come under increased scrutiny since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, other countries also maintain such constructs, as we will see later...

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Sabotage on naval vessels - another explanatory piece

Cause for concern, but please no hysteria - another explanatory piece The inspector of the navy, Vice Admiral Jan C. Kaack, told the capital's press at the "Navy Talks" that there were suspected cases of sabotage on navy ships. He indicated that there had been damage to a boat during a shipyard visit, which gave rise to suspicions of sabotage. Several media outlets have since reported that the boat in question was the minehunter "Homburg" (M 1069), which was undergoing scheduled repairs at the Tamsen-Maritim shipyard on the Warnow. Unknown persons are said to have cut several cable harnesses. Informed circles speak of a bolt cutter as the instrument of offence. The...

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Hamburg: "Schaarhörn" - an elegant lady

With its slightly curved steel hull and golden decorated bow, the "Schaarhörn" from 1908 is a particularly elegant-looking ship at 42 metres in length. The steamer evacuated refugees in 1945 and has been a museum ship since 1995. There is a reason for the ship's stylish appearance: the "Schaarhörn" was originally intended to take illustrious guests such as Kaiser Wilhelm II through Hamburg harbour. The then Office for Electricity and Harbour Construction commissioned the steamer in 1907, also to use the ship as a sounding steamer for measuring water depths on the Elbe. However, this did not materialise at first. After the outbreak of the First World War, the Imperial Navy used the...

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Netherlands: Clever concept for new tender ships

The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) is to receive two cost-effective, lightly manned, multifunctional, multipurpose support vessels between 2026 and the end of 2027. The aim is to strengthen surveillance capacity and combat capability, particularly in the North Sea. The construction of the two units is to be accelerated and is based on a commercial fast-crew-supply design. The ships will be built "off-the-shelf" and nationally at Damen. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) was selected to equip the containerised weapon and EloKa modules in order to minimise integration hurdles. According to a 2022 study, these highly automated platforms are designed as "external" armouries for the RNLN's Air Defence and Command Frigates (ADCF). The project...

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Italy: The Marina Militare was also in the Indo-Pacific

The German navy is not the only one with its units in the Pacific region: the 15-year-old aircraft carrier Cavour (235 metres, 27,000 tonnes) of the Marina Militare returned to its home port of Taranto after a five-month stay in Southeast Asian waters. At the end of October, the accompanying battle group consisting of the multipurpose frigate ALPINO of the Bergamini class (144 metres, 6,700 tonnes) and the patrol frigate Raimondo Montecuccioli of the modern Thaon di Revel class (143 metres, 5,700 tonnes) also returned to Italy. The latter started its journey at the beginning of May in order to take part in the multinational large-scale manoeuvre RIMPAC off Hawaii while sailing through Panama. On the other side...

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