The United States was pursuing a delicate policy of delivering humanitarian aid on military transport planes and ships, apparently to illustrate to the Russians that they do not fully control Georgia’s airspace or coastline.
The policy has left American and Russian naval vessels maneuvering in close proximity off the western coast of Georgia, with the Americans concentrated near the southern port of Batumi and the Russians around the central port of Poti."The convention stipulates a limited number of vessels," he said.
"That is, the same state cannot deploy a certain group without any limit."
CARACAS (Reuters) - Several Russian ships and 1,000 soldiers will take part in joint naval maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea later this year, exercises likely to increase diplomatic tensions with Washington, a pro-government newspaper reported on Saturday.
Quoting Venezuela's naval intelligence director, Salbarore Cammarata, the newspaper Vea said four Russian boats would visit Venezuelan waters from November 10 to 14.
Plans for the naval operations come at a time of heightened diplomatic tension and Cold War-style rhetoric between Moscow and the United States over the recent war in Georgia and plans for a U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Cammarata said it would be the first time Russia's navy carried out such exercises in Latin America. He said the Venezuelan air force would also take part.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, has said in recent weeks that Russian ships and planes are welcome to visit the South American country.
"If the Russian long-distance planes that fly around the world need to land at some Venezuelan landing strip, they are welcome, we have no problems," he said on his weekly television show last week.
Chavez, who buys billions of dollars of weapons from Russia, has criticized this year's reactivation of the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet, which will patrol Latin America for the first time in over 50 years.
The socialist Chavez says he fears the United States will invade oil-rich Venezuela and he supports Russia's growing geopolitical presence as a counterbalance to U.S. power.
Chavez has bought fighter jets and submarines from Russia to retool Venezuela's aging weapons and says he is also interested in a missile defense system.
As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
 HMS Intrepid will be recycled at Canada Dock |
A former Royal Navy assault ship which served in the Falklands War has arrived in the Port of Liverpool.
The 12,000 tonne HMS Intrepid was due to arrive in Canada Dock on Monday, but finally arrived on Wednesday.
It is due to be dismantled and recycled by a team of 50 dock workers over a period of five months.
Some dock workers have refused to work on the project for health and safety reasons, but the ship's owners said it would comply with strict guidelines.
The ship is owned by Leavesley International, which will also carry out the work.
 |  There is no shortage of ships out there waiting to be responsibly dealt with  Leavesley International |
The firm has secured both Liverpool City Council planning permission and the Environment Agency's Waste Management Licence.
Stuart Halsey, Project Leader and Head of Business Development for Leavesley International, said it would be the first of many ships to be recycled in Liverpool.
"There is no shortage of ships out there waiting to be responsibly dealt with," he said.
"Their recycling is an inherently sustainable activity where over 95% of the vessel's material can be reprocessed.
"We see Leavesley International being a permanent fixture in the Port of Liverpool."
Frank Robotham, Marketing Director of Peel Ports Group, which owns and operates the Port of Liverpool, said: "The decision by Leavesley to locate this innovative recycling contract in the Port of Liverpool grafts another centre of excellence onto an already vibrant maritime sector."
HMS Intrepid was built in 1964, decommissioned in 1991 and earmarked for disposal in 1999.
As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
The 371-foot Destroyer has a helicopter deck and hangar plus an exterior Bridge on the upper deck. It is the Seventh ship to sunk by this group. They have also submerged a Boeing 737- 200 by crane just off Chemainus, on Vancouver Island, on Saturday January 14, 2006.
The exact co-ordinates are: Latitude 48 56.142N; Longitude 123 43.130W
Planned to be sunk near Vancouver in 2009, the Annapolis is certain to become one of the most unique and popular additions to the fleet of ARSBC artificial reefs on the British Columbia coast.
The Annapolis project is a co-operative effort of the Artificial Reef Society of B.C., Canadian Artificial Reef Consultants, BrandLive Promotions, many sponsors, and with the support of dive shops & operators around Vancouver.
The ship is planned to be sunk in Howe Sound in 2009.
CHENNAI: Two Canadian warships, which had docked at the Chennai Port on Wednesday morning as part of a three-day stopover here, would be engaged in a one-day naval exercise with the Indian Navy.
The two ships – Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Calgary and HMCS Protecteur – would conduct a passage exercise off Chennai coast in the Bay of Bengal involving communication, manoeuvring, station keeping, search and seize operations and exchange of personnel.
At a media briefing on board the Calgary, Commander Kelly Larkin said the ships Canadian patrol frigate and logistics support ships are on their return journey around the globe after a four-month counter terrorism deployment to the Arabian Sea as a part of a multinational coalition known as Combined Task Force (CTF) 150.
The last Canadian warship visit to India was in 2006 when Calgary’s sister ship HMCS Ottawa stopped in Goa while returning home from the same mission. Calgary, Iroquois and Protecteur are 22nd, 23rd and 24th Canadian ships to serve in the Arabian Sea region since September 2001.
A multipurpose platform, the Calgary carries Harpoon missiles, Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, 57 mm Bofors gun and suitable anti-submarine warfare capabilities, along with a Sea King helicopter.
The combination of its varied and proven weapon and sensors system coupled with a state of the art damage control and machinery control systems makes Calgary one of the most advanced warship designs in the world.
The peacetime role of HMCS Calgary will include a variety of important missions, including search and rescue, training deployments, sovereignty patrols and combined operations with our allies.
Protecteur is the Canadian Navy’s only supply ship stationed on the Pacific Coast. Her role is to provide Canadian and Allied warships with fuel, food and supplies. Mobility and time on station are essential factors in the conduct of effective operations at sea.
Supply ships substantially increase the warfare capability of Canada’s Maritime Forces by enabling warships to remain at sea for longer periods without returning to port for fuel, supplies and maintenance. She is a large vessel displacing nearly five times the tonnage of one frigate. This allows her to carry enough provisions to supply a task force of six destroyers for six weeks without having to return to port for re-supply.
As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
HMS Victory will remain part of the Royal Navy. We will not be giving her away or decommissioning the ship. It is currently run by the Navy and retired Navy personnel show the public around the ship.
The consultation is designed to produce a relationship between the RN and any of the options below which secures the necessary funding and the long term good health of the vessel, without the Royal Navy and the public losing control of the ship.
We are committed to securing her future and want to make sure that she is as well looked after as possible in her old age. That is why we are looking at a range of funding options for the continued support and ongoing maintenance of the ship.
Considerable expenditure will be required over the coming years to maintain her material state, and we will consider options that will secure these funds. These will include: maintaining the current status quo; alternative public ownership by another Government Department or Non Departmental Public Body; a new independent Charitable Organisation, either a company limited by guarantee or a charitable trust; or an existing Charitable Organisation.
In her 243rd year, HMS VICTORY is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and as such has numerous and complex maintenance requirements. The review will seek an arrangement which guarantees this future material support. Contributing to the development of Naval Heritage in Portsmouth , continuing access for the public and maintaining her status as flagship to the Second Sea Lord are all important conditions of all the options under review.
Defence Minister Baroness Ann Taylor said:
HMS Victory will remain part of the Royal Navy. Nothing will change in that respect. The objective for this study is the sustainability of HMS VICTORY as a museum ship and commissioned Royal Navy warship. Continued access depends on extensive works being carried out over the coming years. An examination of the full range of options will seek to ensure that HMS VICTORY is preserved in a sound condition in her home port of Portsmouth for generations to come.
Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Alan Massey said:
The review will openly and equally examine all the options available to us to ensure that HMS Victory continues her distinguished Naval career in the best possible state. We are consulting across the full spectrum of stakeholders and interested parties and their views will play an important part in the recommendations that flow from the review.
A veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS VICTORY is a vital part of our heritage, not only for the Navy and the people of Portsmouth but to the country as a whole and the MOD is committed to securing her future. The review will be aim to identify the option that best secures the long term material, financial and cultural viability of this much-loved ship.
As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
TOKYO (AP) — A U.S. naval base may have been the target of two explosions that rattled a nearby residential area just south of Tokyo, police said Saturday.
No one was wounded in the late Friday blasts in a neighborhood about half a mile from the Yokosuka Naval Base, according to a statement by the Yokosuka Police Station.
Investigators found evidence of two possibly rocket-propelled bombs at the site in Yokosuka, police said, without elaborating.
Local news reports said police were investigating if the blasts were aimed at the U.S. base. A Yokosuka police spokesman confirmed this was the nature of the investigation.
The spokesman, who declined to be named citing department policy, could not verify media reports that the roof of a house in the neighborhood was damaged in one of the explosions.
Yokosuka Naval Base officials have not released a statement and were unavailable for comment Saturday.
Earlier Friday, the U.S. Navy announced that the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was scheduled to arrive Sept. 25 in Yoyosuka, its new home port, about 30 miles south of Tokyo.
The planned arrival of the carrier has drawn criticism from Japanese living near the base who are opposed to the U.S. military presence in Yokosuka and the increased number of American sailors the ship would bring to the area. There are also concerns about a possible accident or leakage from the aircraft carrier's nuclear reactor.
The U.S. Navy disclosed in August that the USS Houston, a submarine, had leaked water containing radiation during several calls to Sasebo and Okinawa in southern Japan and Yokosuka between July 2006 and April 2008. But a Navy investigation concluded the leakage posed no danger to Japan.
[Above photo] Airforce officer from the Canadian marine Mr.Carol Dupuis[L] shows the world food programme country director for Somalia Mr.Peter Goossen some parts of the helicopter that was on board of the naval ship the Mv.Ville de Quebec that has docked at the port of Mombasa in aiding the world food food programme to send relief food to Somalia.
The World Food Programme on Friday announced that it had resumed transportation of relief food to Somalia after the Canadian Navy offered an escort.
Ships carrying food aid will now be escorted by a Canadian warship.
“The situation in Somalia is grave with over three million people in need of food. There are only 3,000 metric tonnes of food there against a demand of 45,000,” WFP country director for Somalia Mr Peter Goossens said.
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