According to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, on Thursday 9 January a Russian Navy ship said to “aggressively” approach a US Navy destroyer vessel, while it was doing its daily operations in the Arabian Sea. As CNN reported, the Russian vessel kept ignoring the warnings from the US destroyer, increasing the risk of collision.
US Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and US Senator Angus King, a member of the Armed Services Committee, wrote to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to express their strong support for a larger Navy.
The US Navy is creating a system for its unmanned robotic warships to be able to communicate like human sailors, allowing the ship to safely navigate through waterways. The goal of his technology is to allows human bridge crews to talk with robot ships using normal speech over the worldwide radio system used for ship-to-ship communication.
On 10 December the U.S. Navy test site located in Oahu, Hawaii welcomed the Irish wave energy device, named as “Ocean Energy 35” (0E35). Specifically, the OE35 will be further connected to the local electrical grid.
According to the U.S. Naval Forces Command, on 18 December the U.S. flagged container ship named “Maersk Kinloss”, managed to save the life of three Iranian mariners who have been stranded at sea for several days.
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division launched John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the US Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, into the James River, on Monday. With the aid of six tugboats, Kennedy was guided down the river about a mile from Dry Dock 12.
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report, according to which persistent and substantial delays in vessel maintenance threaten the U.S. Navy’s ability to sustain readiness. The delays are an expense, leading to increased costs, with GAO estimating that the Navy spent more than $1.5 billion in support costs from FY 2008-2018 due to delayed maintenance for its attack submarines alone.
An environmental services contractor is now under investigation by American and Japanese authorities, for reportedly dumping illegally at U.S. Navy bases in Japan. In fact, between 2008 and 2018, Kanto Kosan Co. allegedly discharged partially treated wastewater into the sea at two U.S. Navy bases and then attempted to cover it up.
China has decided to suspend US Navy ships visits and aircraft to Hong Kong after the US voted a legislation last week supporting pro-democracy protesters. In the meantime, President Trump is seeking a deal with China, aiming to end the trade war.
In a new report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GOA) recommends that the U.S. Navy should take further measures in order to improve training quality. In fact, with the aim to improve ship-driving skills, the Navy has added classroom and simulator training for the Surface Warfare Officers who drive these ships, since 2017, when ship collisions resulted in the loss of 17 sailors’ lives as well as significant damage to Navy ships.
