Malta Naval Visits – April 2024

Thursday 11th April.  The Marina Militare Italiana (Italian Navy) Thaon Di Revel Class Multipurpose offshore patrol vessel, also known as Pattugliatore Polivalente D’Altura (PPA) – ITS PAOLO THAON DI REVEL P 430 called at Malta , passing breakwaters at 1612 hrs making her both as maiden call and the first PPA to be seen in […]

Naval News – French Navy intercepts Drones Fired from Yemen – 09.12.2023

The French Ministry of Defence confirms that a French Navy Frigate shot down two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that were launched against her while she was on patrol in the Red Sea off Yemen last Saturday 9th December. The successful interception happened around 2130 hrs local time while the  Frégate Européenne Multi-Mission (FREMM) frigate FS […]

Naval News – Decommissioning of ITS ZEFFIRO F 577 – 05.10.2023

Last Thursday 5th October @ 1830hrs the Marina Militare Italiana (Italian Navy) Maestrale Class Frigate ITS ZEFFIRO F 577 was decommissioned after 38 years of service at Mar Grande Naval Station of Taranto, with 21 gun salute. Moored at Augusta Navy Base back to 27th April, 2019. Launched on 19th May 1984 built by Fincantieri […]

Malta Naval Visits – February 2023

Naval Visits for the year 2023 started from February – Saturday 4th to Tuesday 7th February The First Naval Ship was the Italian Navy Gaeta Class Minehunter ITS VIAREGGIO M 5559 that entered at 0924 hrs. She was seen for the first time in Malta back to 2001 when she was only 5 years old. […]

Haifa Port – March 2022 Movements.

The Port of Haifa  is the largest of Israel’s three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep water harbor, which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern Mediterranean in terms of freight volume and […]

Naval News – Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in Sicily – February 2020.

Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) standing maritime immediate reaction force which consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. From Saturday 22nd February to Monday 24th February SNMG 2 units consisting of 6 naval ships was at Catania Port berthing at […]

Casualties – Fire on cargo ship BELLATRIX off Sicily – 08.04.2020

On Wednesday 8th April, 2020 morning the Italian Coast Guard (Guardia Costiera) received a mayday distress call from the Russian flag general cargo ship BELLATRIX with fire on board. BELLATRIX was more than 180 miles southeast of Catania, when she launched the distress call for a fire which was out of control in the engine […]

Naval News – Dynamic Manta Exercise 2019

NATO’s Submarine Warfare Exercise DYNAMIC MANTA 2019 (DYMA 19) naval assets started building up for the exercise off the Sicilian coast. DYNAMIC MANTA remains to be one of the most challenging exercises for NATO. It provides NATO nations’ with an excellent opportunity for their forces to practice together in a pure joint environment and simultaneously […]