16 February 2022
by Kate Tringham
Giovanni delle Bande Nere is the fourth of seven PPAs being built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy. (Fincantieri)
Fincantieri held a technical launch for the Italian Navy's first multipurpose offshore patrol ship (Pattugliatore Polivalente d'Altura: PPA) configured for full combat at its shipyard in Riva Trigoso in Genoa on 12 February.
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere is the fourth of seven planned PPAs being built by Fincantieri as part of the Italian Navy's fleet renewal plan, which also includes the construction of a logistic support ship and a landing helicopter dock (LHD). Construction of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere began in March 2019 and under current planning it is scheduled for delivery in 2024. Its launch will be followed by that of the fifth PPA, Marcantonio Colonna , later this year.
The PPAs are being delivered in three configurations based on a common platform, including two ‘light', three ‘light plus', and two ‘full combat' vessels. The 143 m ships are based on a modular design to enable reconfiguration from low- to high-end if required.
01 May 2024
by Michael Fabey
The US Navy has begun to improve its current public shipyards, such as the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, shown here. (US Navy)
A new labour agreement signed on 29 April that seeks to build a rotational workforce of skilled welders could eventually serve as template for a national workforce arrangement for work on naval ships, according to Edward L Bartlett Jr, founder and CEO of Bartlett Maritime Corporation (BMC) – the company that brokered the deal.
The impetus for the rotational welders was a plan to use such a workforce to work on naval ships in Charleston, South Carolina, Bartlett told Janes in an interview on 29 April.
BMC hopes to prove out the concept through the recentlysigned labour deal and similar follow-on agreements. BMC has also proposed to construct and operate component repair facilities in northeast Ohio with an option to build a new public naval shipyard in Charleston.
01 May 2024
by Kate Tringham
RFA Cardigan Bay will support the US military personnel by providing temporary offshore accommodation as they build a new temporary pier to deliver aid directly into Gaza. (UK MoD/Crown Copyright)
The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Bay-class landing ship dock auxiliary (LSD(A)) vessel Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Cardigan Bay (L 3009) has been deployed to the coast of Gaza where it will provide support to US military building a new temporary floating pier that will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into the country directly by sea, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.
Cardigan Bay , which is en route to Gaza from Cyprus, will provide temporary offshore accommodation for personnel working on the offshore pier project, the MoD said.
The initiative will enable cargo ships to deliver pre-screened aid from Cyprus directly to the pier, where it will be loaded onto trucks to transfer across Gaza. It forms part of wider international efforts to expand the delivery of aid into Gaza and will complement efforts to get more aid in via land routes and the Port of Ashdod.
US military vessels, including USNS Benavidez,
30 April 2024
by Kate Tringham
The Belgian Navy's Modernised M (Karel Doorman)-class frigate BNS Louise-Marie (F 931) will join the EU's maritime security mission ‘Aspides' in the Red Sea in the coming week. (Guy Toremans)
The Belgian Navy's Modernised M (Karel Doorman)-class frigate BNS Louise-Marie (F 931) has been declared operationally ready to participate in the European Union's (EU's) maritime security missions in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz following a period of extended preparatory training in the Mediterranean, the service has announced.
Louise-Marie was originally scheduled to transit through the Suez Canal to join the EU's ‘Aspides' mission to protect commercial shipping in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on 12 April. However, on 13 April the Belgian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the deployment had been postponed ‘indefinitely' to address technical issues that had occurred during training the previous week. During the incident, one of the ship's RIM-7 M/P Sea Sparrow surface-to-air (SAM) missiles failed to launch, remaining stuck in the launch tube, and several other weapon systems also failed to shoot down the practice drone.
Fincantieri held a technical launch for the Italian Navy's first multipurpose offshore patrol ship (...
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