The Dutch government has signed a contract with Fugro N.V. and Damen Shipyards for the chartering of a modern patrol vessel with a civilian crew. The new Damen Fast Crew Supplier 5009 (FCS) "state vessel" is due to enter service in the second quarter of 2025 and will be responsible for providing situational awareness in the exclusive economic zone of the...
In recent decades, Western navies have had little experience in treating casualties in combat. Land-based operations by the US armed forces therefore form the basis for today's on-board medical concepts. When preparing for the big battle during the Cold War, combat operations were expected to last a few hours.
Raytheon has specified an existing contract for the supply of spare parts for the Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) missile to US allies as part of the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) programme worth 141 million US dollars and announced the production schedule in a press release. According to the US Department of Defence, the...
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group left its home port of Bremerton in Washington State (WA) in March for a planned deployment in the western Pacific. This will likely be the last deployment for the "Nimitz", the oldest active aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, before it retires this year after 50 years of service....
German seaports handled more goods last year than in 2023, with a total of 274 million tonnes handled in 2024 - an increase of 2.3 percent, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Although Hamburg remains the undisputed leader with 97 million tonnes of goods handled, it recorded a decline of...
Anschütz, the German market leader for navigation and bridge systems, has developed and successfully tested an automatic collision avoidance system (CAS) as part of the Kiel CAPTN initiative (see below for more information). The automation of vehicles in a busy sea area such as the Kiel Fjord posed a particular challenge, the true dimensions of which only became apparent when the...
The French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" is currently on its way back to its home port of Toulon after a four-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific. After travelling through the Red Sea and passing through the Suez Canal, it made a stopover in Souda Bay on the north side of the island of Crete....
The largest waterway intersection in Europe is located north of Magdeburg and has connected the Mittelland Canal across the Elbe with the Elbe-Havel Canal since 2003. As part of the German Unity Transport Project, the canal bridge has become an important element of the East-West link for shipping. The construction time was only a short five years. The 918 metre...
On 12 March 2025, the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate "De Ruyter" test-fired a Tomahawk cruise missile off the coast of Norfolk/Virginia before the missile system is put into service in the Netherlands. With this test, the navy is gathering the necessary information to deploy the Tomahawks from the four air defence and commando frigates...
The crude oil tanker "Koala" (Suezmax, 164,000 DWT), loaded with around 130,000 tonnes of heavy oil, has partially sunk after an explosion on board in the important Russian Baltic Sea oil port of Ust-Luga. This was reported by Russian media in February. The 24 crew members were evacuated unharmed. The tanker partially sank to the bottom due to a water ingress in the engine room. A...
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