Liaoning: generally considered by military experts to be a training carrier

Oct 14, 2015    Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, when asked if China had or would send forces to Syria, told a daily news briefing that she had also noticed the reports.

"I can tell you that as for China's warships, for example the Liaoning, whether it has gone to join, for this issue, as far as I know, there is no such plan. At this time the Liaoning is in a phase of carrying out technical training and military exercises."   The Liaoning is generally considered by military experts to be a training carrier, while China builds its own carriers and works out how to operate them.

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[February 2 

 The authority in Changzhou, in eastern Jiangshu province, boasted on social media on February 1 that a local firm had won a contract to supply electrical cabling for  China's second aircraft carrier.   It later deleted the post, but not before it had been widely circulated. 

[July 4 2013 Shi Lang Varyag: now  Liaoning, F-5 takes off]

Photo shows a J-15, China's first-generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet, taking off from the deck of the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, on June 29, 2013.   Jane's Fighting Ships had previously stated that the ship would be named Shi Lang and assigned pennant number 83 but at the commissioning ceremony, the carrier was officially named Liaoning.




[September 25 2012]
China's first aircraft carrier was delivered to the Chinese Navy at the port of Dalian on September 23, 2012. The carrier, built on former Ukrainian vessel Varyag, is capable of carrying around 30 fixed wing fighters and helicopters and a crew of about 2,000. And the hull number, "16," has been painted on the ship recently. [earlier]China has renovated the Varyag, an incomplete Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier purchased from Ukraine, and carried out the first trial navigation in August 2011. China seems to be advancing training of carrier-based aircraft pilots and development of the J-15, a carrier-based fighter. In addition, it has constructed a structure on land which replicates an aircraft carrier and is developing an airfield for take-off and landing training. Based on these facts, it is believed that China is now earnestly advancing research and development on technologies necessary for possession of aircraft carriers. 
In view of these developments in the modernization of the Chinese Navy, it is believed that China is trying to build capabilities to conduct operations in more distant areas. 

In recent years, when environment surrounding military has greatly been changing including advancement in military specialization and diversification of missions according to the modernization of military, some see that relations between the CCP leadership and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been getting complex and others see that the degree of military influence on foreign policy decisions has been changing13. The situation attracts attention as a risk management issue too. Japan, Defense White paper, July, 2012


[6/8/11]The carrier was constructed in the 1980s for the Soviet navy but was never completed. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the rusting hull of the Varyag sat in dockyards in Ukraine.
A small Hong Kong company called the Chong Lot Travel Agency Ltd.it said wanted to turn it into a floating casino in Macau and purchased it at auction for US$20 million. The total cost of acquiring the hulk was over $30 million USD: $25 million to the Ukrainian government for the hull, nearly $500,000 in transit fees, and some $5 million for the towing.
The head of China's General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has confirmed that China's first aircraft carrier is under construction.
In fact, China faces severe ocean threats, Qi Jianguo, Assistant Chief of General Staff, says, China is now in the oceans are facing the pressure of several directions, to see how the situation changes. You see, now that the sea, the island chain, the South China Sea issue, the Taiwan Strait issue, the East China Sea issue, the question the Yellow Sea, the world can there be a large country like China is facing such a complex marine problems?" Hong Kong Commercial Daily

Gen Chen Bingde refused to say when the carrier - a remodelled Soviet-era vessel, the Varyag - would be ready.

Montecristo:Japanese escort backed off

D’Alesio officials explain that when the Montecristo came under attack, it was being escorted by a Japanese navy vessel. The pirates pounced when the Italian ship reached the Indian Ocean and the Japanese vessel moved off. The Montecristo had sailed from Liverpool and was taking a cargo of iron to Vietnam. The vessel’s captain is Venice-born Diego Scussat. Two of the other Italians on board are the deck officer, Stefano Mariotti, and officer cadet Luca Giglioli, the son of a D’Alesio Group employee.

Following the passage of Japan’s Law on Punishment and Measures against Acts of Piracy on July 24, 2009, its Self-Defense Force started vessel-escorting operations in the Gulf of Aden not only for Japanese vessels but also for all foreign vessels.”

“The legislation enables units of Japan’s Self-Defense Force (including P-3C patrol aircraft) to protect vessels from acts of piracy, complimenting other efforts made globally to ensure safe passage for ships off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden,”
Japanese MSDF anti-piracy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bjW_OyMZ5Q&feature=player_embedded
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Tortuga: USN in Japan evacuation/recovery

The USS Tortuga has loaded 700 Japanese security forces in Hokkaido for Akita

SS Tortuga (LSD 46) anchored early this morning in Ominato in northern Honshu, delivering 93 vehicles and 273 Japan Ground Self Defense Force ashore via Landing Craft Unit (LCU) transfer. The ship transported the soldiers and their vehicles from Tomakomai, Hokkaido, to assist with the disaster recovery efforts. The ship will also transport 5,000 bottles of water and 5,000 Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) to Misawa for further distribution to people in need.

Izumi: anchorage off Haradheere

MV Izumi is anchored two miles from the coast, 6 miles north of Haradheere, a pirate stronghold. earlier

Panamanian-flag chemical carrier hijacked

The Chemstar Venus was seized by pirates on 16 November 08 off Somalia.


The vessel is operated by Japan’s Kaiun Kaisha, classed by ClassNK and insured through the Japan Shipowners’ Protection and Indemnity Association.

Japan’s foreign ministry confirmed the Panama-flagged vessel, which was on a voyage from Dumai, Indonesia to the Ukraine,
Name: Chemstar Venus
MMSI: 357280000 [PA]
IMO: 9185841
Callsign: 3FEX9
Speed/Dir: 12.5 kts / 253° WSW
Status: Underway
Dest:
ETA:
Type: Tanker Haz A (81)
Details: Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Size: 148m x 24m x 9.4m
Tonnage: 11951gt, 19455dwt
Built: Feb 1999

british private security guards have repulsed a Somali pirate attack on an unidentified chemical tanker, using equipment billed as the sonic equivalent of a laser, according to the principal of a company that specialises in such services, some say.

North Koreans use Cambodia flag vessel

ARGUS, 3950 tons, built 1971, Cambodia
Exposing an apparent loophole in Japan's sanctions against North Korea, a Cambodian-registered freighter carrying 8,500 used bicycles left Sakai Port in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, for North Korea. It is the first such move since the government banned the entry of North Korean vessels following Pyongyang's nuclear test in October.

The 2,740-ton Argus was provided by a Russian shipping firm at the request of a Nagano-based trading company among others.
Following North Korea's nuclear test in October, the Japanese government banned the entry of all North Korean-registered ships into Japanese ports, prohibited the importation of all products from North Korea and blocked exports of luxury goods, such as passenger cars and electrical appliances, from Japan.

Although bicycles are not included in the list of luxury items prohibited for export to North Korea, the ban on ships entering the nation's ports has effectively restricted the export of bicycles to North Korea. here

Kang Nam 5 cleared to leave Hong Kong

owners sent money,
Kang Nam 5, A newly repaired North Korean ship held in Hong Kong for two months for safety violations has been cleared to leave. The vessel's owners sent money last week to cover the repairs. here

North Korean Kang Nam 5 stuck in Hong Kong

Equipment insufficient
Hong Kong officials detained the Kang Nam 5, a North Korean cargo ship, after it arrived empty on Oct. 25 from the Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung. Inspectors said the ship's lifesaving, communications and emergency lighting equipment were outdated or insufficient. The vessel's owner apparently had financial difficulties and couldn't fix the ship. here

Navy tracking North Korea freighter

The Military Sealift Command oiler refuels guided missile destroyer, left, and aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Oct. 18 in the Western Pacific Ocean.The Navy is tracking a North Korean cargo ship that left port and was headed south from the Korean Peninsula, but does not know what the ship is carrying or its destination.The carrier Kitty Hawk left Yokosuka, Japan, on Tuesday with a heavy phalanx of escorts and Carrier Air Wing 5 as regional tensions remain high after North Korea’s Oct. 9 underground detonation of a nuclear device and news it may test another. Kitty Hawk is the Navy’s only forward-deployed carrier and follows a different underway schedule than U.S.-based aircraft carriers. here here here