News for the seafarers
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A U.S. warship conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, near the Parcel Islands, the day after China claimed it chased away the ship from its territorial waters, U.S. 7th Fleet announced Friday. USS Milius (DDG-69) sailed near the Parcel Islands and then into the South China Sea, according to the release. On […]
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) conducts a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, March 24. Milius is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. US Navy Photo
A U.S. warship conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, near the Parcel Islands, the day after China claimed it chased away the ship from its territorial waters, U.S. 7th Fleet announced Friday.
USS Milius (DDG-69) sailed near the Parcel Islands and then into the South China Sea, according to the release. On Thursday, a Chinese spokesperson said the People’s Liberation Army forces chased away the guided missile destroyer after it sailed into its territorial waters. The U.S. Navy denied these accusations.
“This freedom of navigation operation (“FONOP”) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the restrictions on innocent passage imposed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and Vietnam and also by challenging PRC’s claim to straight baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands,” reads the release.
The Parcel Islands are claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan, and they reach require permission or notification before a warship may sail through the waters around them, according to the release.
The People’s Republic of China has claimed straight baselines around the islands, which the United States sees as a violation of international sea law, according to the release.
“By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what the PRC can lawfully claim as its territorial sea, and that the PRC claimed straight baselines around the Paracel Islands are inconsistent with international law,” reads the release.
Milius was in the Sea of Japan earlier this week conducting an exercise with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force JS Atago (DDG-177).
In a statement, Chinese authorities protested the operation on Friday.
“The act of the U.S. military seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, severely breached international laws, and is more ironclad evidence of the U.S. pursuing navigation hegemony and militarizing the South China Sea,” ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei said in a Friday statement.
“We solemnly request that the US. immediately stop such actions of provocation, otherwise, it will bear the serious consequences of unexpected incidents caused by this.”
The Makin Island Amphibious Group (ARG) docked at the port of Busan in the Republic of Korea (ROK) as part of their participation in the U.S.-ROK Exercise Ssangyong this week. Exercise Ssangyong was on hiatus since 2018 after the previous Moon Jae-in government suspended major U.S.- Republic of Korea military exercises to lower tensions with […]
USS Makin Island (LHD-8) conducts a photo exercise and replenishment-at-sea with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93), March 15, 2023. US Navy Photo
The Makin Island Amphibious Group (ARG) docked at the port of Busan in the Republic of Korea (ROK) as part of their participation in the U.S.-ROK Exercise Ssangyong this week.
Exercise Ssangyong was on hiatus since 2018 after the previous Moon Jae-in government suspended major U.S.- Republic of Korea military exercises to lower tensions with North Korea. The Yoon Suk-yeol administration resumed military drills. In response, North Korea fired a series of ballistic and cruise missile launches into the Sea of Japan.
Before the Makin Island ARG’s arrival at Busan, North Korea reportedly test-fired four cruise missiles from its eastern coast into the sea.
This year’s iteration will take place around Pohang with ROK Marine Corps units and the 13th MEU conducting amphibious landings and performing naval drills between U.S. and ROK Navy ships. The drills will also include a contingent of U.K. Royal Marines. Similar small detachments of U.K. ground forces have been also been participating in exercises in Japan in the past months.
Prior to docking at Busan, the ARG sailed with nine ships of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) on Tuesday. Among the nine ROKN ships were both of the ROKN’s Dokdo class amphibious assault ships, ROKS Dokdo (LPH-6111) and ROKS Marado (LPH-6112).
CNS Binzhou (515). JSDF Photo
In Japan, the People’s Liberation Army Navy frigate CNS Binzhou (515) was sighted sailing west over the weekend in an area 75 miles southwest of Ishigaki Island. On Sunday, the PLAN frigate sailed north between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan and, subsequently, was sighted sailing north in an area 50 miles west of Uotsuri Island, part of the Senkaku Islands, according to the Joint Staff Office (JSO) of the Ministry of Defense officials.
Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer escort JS Jintsu (DE-230) shadowed the PLAN frigate. Officials said Binzhou sailed northeast through the waters between Amami Oshima and the uninhabited volcanic island of Yokoate-jima and entered the Pacific Ocean on March 16.
On Thursday, Russian Navy intelligence ship Kareliya (535) was sighted sailing west in an area 50 miles southeast of Okinawa before it sailed west through the Miyako Strait to enter the East China Sea. The release added that minesweeper JS Yakushima (MSC-602) shadowed the Russian ship.
On Wednesday, dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD-48) departed Sasebo for its new homeport of San Diego, Calif., according to a 7th Fleet release. Ashland arrived at Sasebo in 2013 as part of Expeditionary Strike Group 7.
Meanwhile, a third U.S. Littoral Combat Ship, USS Mobile (LCS-26), is now deployed to the Indo-Pacific, joining USS Charleston (LCS-18) and USS Oakland (LCS-24), according to a 3rd Fleet release on Thursday.
The LCSs are taking part in U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard joint patrol in the Western Pacific under the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) to reduce and eliminate illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing, combat transnational crimes and enhance regional security with the patrol being conducted by Mobile with an embarked Coast Guard law enforcement detachment from the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team. Charleston is currently operating around the Indian Ocean while Oakland is around the South China Sea.
This post has been updated with additional details from the unfunded priorities list. If the Navy could ask for more funds in Fiscal Year 2024, it would prioritize infrastructure to target potential adversaries in support of its Project Overmatch initiative, USNI News has learned. The service’s FY 2024 $2 billion annual unfunded priorities list, obtained […]
Operations Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Ezekiel, assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61), identifies air contacts in the combat information center (CIC) on March 21, 2016. Monterey is underway conducting Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) with the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in preparation for a future deployment. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated with additional details from the unfunded priorities list.
If the Navy could ask for more funds in Fiscal Year 2024, it would prioritize infrastructure to target potential adversaries in support of its Project Overmatch initiative, USNI News has learned.
The service’s FY 2024 $2 billion annual unfunded priorities list, obtained by USNI News on Friday, puts $45.3 million in research and development funds to pursue the Maritime Targeting Cell Afloat (MTC-A) as its number one priority.
“Funding the Maritime Targeting Cell Afloat (MTC-A) delivers persistent, multi-domain fusion of national, theater, and tactical sensors and space layer downlink at shore-based and tactical afloat nodes in a contested communications environment. Directly supports Project Overmatch and Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) by integrating intelligence, sensors, shooters, platforms, and weapons to enhance lethality and survivability, which is a strategic objective of the CNO’s Navigation Plan (NAVPLAN),” the document reads.
As its number two priority, the annual wishlist to Congress includes $49.3 million in research and development funding to update the cockpit systems in the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye through the E-2D Hawkeye Cockpit Technical Refresh (HECTR) program.
“The enclosed Navy Unfunded Priorities List (UPL) identifies executable ways to enhance the President’s Budget with additional investments in FY 2024. The list includes investments in the Navy’s networks to enhance lethality and survivability, improvements in electronic detection and targeting, urgent seismic dry dock projects and modernization of critical infrastructure, and additional aviation and maritime spares to improve Fleet readiness and buy down future risk,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday wrote in a letter to the Congressional defense authorization committees.
“Also, the UPL includes a detailed list of executable military construction projects. Funding for these projects would construct laboratories to test and evaluate new capabilities to reduce Fleet vulnerabilities, address installation resiliency issues, and improve shore infrastructure.”
The third priority for the Navy is $186.4 million in research and development funding and other procurement funding for the Zumwalt Enterprise Upgrade Solution, known as ZEUS. The initiative is meant to upgrade the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers with a new electronic weapons suite, radar and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, USNI News previously reported.
By far the most expensive line item is $550 million in shore infrastructure improvements across the Navy.
The second most expensive item is $300 million in operations and maintenance funding to fix three dry docks at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Facility in Bremerton, Wash., and the delta pier at the Trident Refit Facility in Bangor, Wash. A funding table accompanying the unfunded priorities shows a list of projects the Navy postponed to immediately start overhauling the dry docks, which are at risk for earthquake damage.
“Recently, the PSNS dry docks were decertified due to risk of dry docks stability during a seismic event. Recertifying the dry docks is imperative to continue to maintain submarines,” according to the unfunded list.
The fourth priority for the Navy is a capability called Violet, which the service declined to explain due to classification. The Navy wants $25.6 million across its research and development account, other procurement funding, and operations and maintenance account for the initiative.
With more funding, the Navy would also perform Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block III upgrades to future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers Richard G. Lugar (DDG-136) and John F. Lehman (DDG-137). The upgrades would cost $208.1 million from the Navy’s shipbuilding account.
Another unfunded priority is to perform SEWIP Block III upgrades on Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) and future Ford-class carrier Enterprise (CVN-80), which is under construction at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding. Those upgrades would cost $264 million, also from the Navy shipbuilding account.
The Navy also wants another KC-130J aircraft for $118.8 million and aircraft spare parts for $175 million. Both of those line items are aircraft procurement funding.
“This funds Aviation Consolidated Allowance List (AVCAL) outfitting, improving material range and depth for the F/A-18E/F, EA-18G, E-2, MH-60R, MH-60S, CMV-22, and MQ-4C series aircraft,” the UPL says of the spare parts. “This will close gaps in Carrier Air Wing material support posture by resourcing spare and repair parts from industrial base supply chains for point-of-use during Fleet training and deployment cycles.”
The service’s wish list also includes $100 million in other procurement funding for maritime spare parts.
(ALAMEDA, Calif.) – The U.S. Coast Guard responded to multiple maritime-related incidents this week after storms crossed the San Francisco Bay Area and left vessels, docks and barges adrift, causing […]
The post Bay Area storms hinder navigation, leave vessels adrift first appeared on Professional Mariner.
(ALAMEDA, Calif.) – The U.S. Coast Guard responded to multiple maritime-related incidents this week after storms crossed the San Francisco Bay Area and left vessels, docks and barges adrift, causing navigational safety issues.
All potential navigational hazards were mitigated through federal, state, local and commercial partnerships.
Three 60-foot deck barges went adrift, causing an allision with the Third Street Bridge at McCovey Cove leading to Mission Creek. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco’s Prevention Department was made aware of the situation and broadcasted a notice to mariners, noting that the area was closed to navigation.
A final assessment of the bridge is pending the completion of an inspection by engineers. Coast Guard responders observed no evidence of pollution, and the barges were secured with the assistance of tugboats.
Station San Francisco, Coast Guard cutter Hawksbill, an 87-foot Marine Protector-class patrol boat, and an Oakland marine unit responded to several adrift docks with vessels moored to them in the Oakland Estuary area. All docks and vessels were then safely secured.
Coast Guard Station Golden Gate responded to multiple adrift vessels in Richardson’s Bay, Sausalito, and the Tiburon area. All vessels were secured and people were assisted.
Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Services maintains communications with San Francisco bar pilots to ensure the continued safe movements of commercial vessels.
Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco conducted an overflight of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers to better understand maritime safety for the main ship channels.
The Coast Guard will continue to monitor situations across the San Francisco Bay Area and respond as needed.
– U.S. Coast Guard
The post Bay Area storms hinder navigation, leave vessels adrift first appeared on Professional Mariner.
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