The Gambia redoubles efforts to scupper maritime drug trafficking
The Gambia is a key transit point for South American cocaine being smuggled to Europe. In February, over 800 kg of cocaine that had...
New Irini force commander
The European Union (EU) naval deployment in the Mediterranean Sea – Operation Irini – has a new man at the helm of its multinational...
French frigate seizes 2.4 tonnes of cocaine off West African coast
The French Navy frigate Ventose has seized 2.4 tons of cocaine on a fishing boat off the coast of West Africa.
The operation took place...
Board of inquiry for SAN submarine disaster coming
The South African Navy will next month institute a board of inquiry (BOI) into the SAS Manthatisi accident that claimed the lives of three...
SA Navy chief mourns those lost in submarine tragedy, including pioneering female officer
The Chief of the South African Navy, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, is heartbroken and devastated by the deaths of three submariners who passed away...
Three SA Navy submariners dead after fatal incident at sea
Three South African Navy (SAN) submariners died after they were washed off the deck of the submarine SAS Manthatisi (S101) off Kommetjie in the...
Damen patrol vessels in Cape Town
It cannot have escaped the notice of the casual maritime observer that Cape Town is the home of one of the World’s largest, and...
Naval College Open Day
The SA Navy (SAN) is certainly putting its best foot forward this month (September) for South Africans to see what it is and does.
First...
Brazilian Navy exercises with West African nations
The Brazilian Navy Niteroi-class frigate Liberal is off the coast of West Africa, where it is holding exercises with regional navies, including Togo and...
Second Senegalese OPV 58S undergoing sea trials
French shipyard Piriou is carrying out sea trials of the Niani, the second of three OPV 58S patrol vessels destined for Senegal, indicating delivery...
PLAN CoS meets CSAN
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Hu Zhongming, has paid a courtesy call to SA Navy (SAN) Chief at...
Navy back on show with a mini festival
“The Peoples’ Navy” will strut its stuff for South Africans again, albeit on a smaller scale than the Navy Festival staged at Naval Base...
SA Navy in attendance at IMDEC 2023 in Ghana
South African Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, is one of the dignitaries attending the third International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEC 2023)...
Indian Navy patrol vessel visits South Africa
The Indian Navy’s warship INS Sunayna has paid a port visit to Durban, months after another Indian Navy visit to KwaZulu-Natal.
INS Sunayna was in...
South Africa and Germany aiming to hold long-delayed naval exercise in 2024
South Africa and Germany will next year hold the eighth iteration of the Good Hope naval exercise, after a six-year hiatus compounded by the...
Immortelle – one of the SAN predecessor’s first three ships
The imminent departure of the name SAS Immortelle from the SA Navy (SAN) roster of shore facilities signals the end of an important part...
Farewell, SAS Immortelle
SAS Immortelle, SA Navy (SAN) headquarters base in Pretoria for the past 46 years, is set to disappear.
The base on the southern side of...
SAN Chief paints encouraging picture for Navy future
South Africa’s senior sailor, SA Navy (SAN) Chief, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, told those he commands the maritime service is improving with “a number...
Another major milestone for Africa’s only submarine museum
Nearly eight years since it closed to visitors, South Africa’s renowned submarine museum is being brought ashore thanks to two specially constructed cradles from...
Armscor looking to acquire unmanned underwater vehicle
Armscor is looking to acquire a single REMUS 100 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for research and development purposes, and has issued a tender to...
New SAN hydrographic vessel “on track”
SAS Nelson Mandela (A187), the new SA Navy (SAN) hydrographic survey vessel (HSV), is “on track” with hull construction complete.
She is the major component...
SAN platforms in line for maintenance, repairs
The stated aim of SA Navy (SAN) Chief, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, is to put ships back at sea. Part of reaching this ambitious...
SA Navy prioritises gender mainstreaming
While significant strides have been made to ensure that women occupy leadership positions in the South African Navy, much more must be done to...
Kenya completes local refurbishment of patrol ship Shupavu
Kenya’s President William Ruto has rededicated the patrol vessel KNS Shupavu following a local overhaul performed by Kenya Shipyards Limited at a new facility...
Work on dedicated Naval Museum submarine annex moves ahead
The plan hatched by a group of retired senior SA Navy (SAN) officers to establish a dedicated submarine exhibit as part of the SA...
Angola receives first tank landing craft from CMN; inaugurates refurbished Soyo naval base
The Angolan Navy has taken delivery of the first of two new tank landing craft built by France’s CMN, five months after launch in...
Shining a spotlight on China’s Type 054A guided missile frigate CNS Sanya
The Chinese Navy frigate CNS Sanya arrived at the V&A Waterfront harbour in Cape Town on 24 July for a three-day visit as part...
Liberian Coast Guard rescues hijacked Chinese fishing vessel
The Liberian Coast Guard has rescued 23 crew from a Chinese fishing vessel that was hijacked off the country’s coastline.
The Armed Forces of Liberia...
A look at recent Cape Town visitor, PLAN replenishment ship Weishanhu
Any naval flotilla that is operating far from home, and carrying out long, tedious, patrols is always going to come up against their endurance,...
Arrival of Chinese Navy taskforce in Cape Town a sign of closer China/SA ties
The arrival, in Cape Town, of a flotilla of warships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), better known today as the Chinese Navy,...
SA Navy chief pledges ship visit to China
The South African Navy (SAN) is undergoing a rebuilding and maintenance phase to get its vessels out to sea and once this is completed,...
Ghana receives Defender boats as part of multi-million maritime security upgrade
The United States has donated two Defender class boats to Ghana’s Special Boat Squadron as part of a $6 million package to enhance the...
Chinese Navy resumes port visits to Cape Town
The 43rd Chinese naval escort taskforce of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) arrived in Cape Town on the morning of 24 July for...
SA Navy submarine SAS Manthatisi’s presence off the Cape explained
The woes that the suffering South African Navy continues to have to endure make for depressing reading. So to see one of her capital...
Three Chinese Navy ships to visit Cape Town next week
Another visit to Cape Town by ships of the Chinese Navy will take place this weekend.
On Sunday 23 July the destroyer Nanning 162, the...
SA Naval Dockyard improvements will see better service
Just on half the content of Armscor’s first newsletter of the year – dubbed “a new design and approach” to stakeholder communication – is...
SAS King Shaka – MMIPV number two – busy with sea trials
The seagoing component of the SA Navy's Project Biro is approaching the 66% completion mark with the second multi-mission inshore patrol vessel (MMIPV) working...
Gulf of Guinea piracy on the up
There’s concern about an increase in piracy in Gulf of Guinea waters off Africa’s west coast with the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) calling for...
Piracy in West Africa dropped in 2022, but criminals are moving elsewhere
Piracy and maritime crime continued to decline in the Gulf of Guinea last year, largely in response to heightened regional and international anti-piracy efforts,...
India/Kenya naval relations strengthened
Naval relations between India and Kenya were reinforced during a high-level Indian Navy delegation visit to the East African country.
The visit provided an opportunity...
Ghana receives Marine Protector class patrol boats from the United States
Ghana’s Navy has taken delivery of two former US Coast Guard Marine Protector patrol boats supplied by the United States under its Excess Defence...
Bulker Nyon boarded by pirates off West Africa
The bulk carrier Nyon is the latest ship to have been attacked by West African pirates after being boarded by four armed men on...
Nigeria signs agreement with Turkey’s Dearsan for the upgrade of flagship NNS Aradu
The Nigerian Navy (NN) has signed an agreement with Turkey’s Dearsan for the mid-life upgrade of the Nigerian fleet’s flagship, NNS Aradu, and the...
Iconic ocean-going Emergency Towing Vessel to be retired
Having delivered nearly five decades of service to the regional and international maritime industry since she was built in Durban in the 1970s, the...
Navy to mark World Hydrography Day in Gqeberha
The SA Navy (SAN) is rolling out the maritime equivalent of the red carpet in Gqeberha this week as its contribution to World Hydrography...
SA Navy tours Portuguese submarine and patrol vessel
Members of the South African Navy (SAN), including Flag Officer Fleet, Rear Admiral Musawenkosi Nkomonde, have toured the Portuguese Navy’s submarine NRP Arpao and...
Piracy at lowest level in three decades helps reduce annual ship loss rate
Maritime piracy is at its lowest level in nearly three decades, with the improved situation in the Gulf of Guinea contributing to the downward...
SADC IUU action outlined
The commitment of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to illegal, unreported unregulated (IUU) fishing, marked internationally this week, receives attention in the bloc...
Indian and Portuguese naval vessels visit South Africa
South Africa is currently hosting naval vessels from two nations, with the Indian Navy frigate INS Trishul in Durban and the Portuguese patrol ship...
EU Mediterranean Libya arms embargo enforcement continues
The European Union (UN) naval operation enforcing a United Nations (UN) arms embargo on Libya has been extended for a year.
The renewal will see...