Gelso M: shipwreck's 300 tons of oil recovery starts

The recovery of fuel Gelso M, the tanker aground on the rocks of Syracuse on March 10, I finally started. After the first inspection where it was recovered the black box, the engineers have started work. The first phase includes the refurbishment of stranded floats to contain any spillage into the sea of ​​about 300 tons of fuel and taking samples of water near the launch scafo.Le environmental groups, however, the alarm pollution.

video

earlier

Providence: other submarines deployed in Med?

The Navy has also recently deployed “a few” other submarines to the region, according to a U.S. military official who declined to provide details. WashingtonPost
Scranton
Providence

Providence (SSN 719): slowly tightening the noose

The nuclear-powered submarine USS PROVIDENCE (SSN 719) and Destroyer USS Mason(DDG-87) entered the Suez Canal Saturday from the Red Sea.

The officials said the warships are part of the American carrier battle group led by the USS Enterprise. U.S. military officials have ordered warships into the Mediterranean in case they are needed for Libya-related operations ranging from humanitarian assistance to possible military action.

— The Arab League endorsed a no-flight zone over Libya on March 12
Europe's leaders have clashed over the prospect of intervention in Libya, with Angela Merkel leading a campaign to block talk of air strikes and no-fly zones from David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy..

“If the international community chooses to play the role of bystander,” said Libyan official, Abdul Hafidh Ghoga, the vice chairman of the shadow government, the Libyan National Council, “we will have to defend ourselves.”

Mistral, Georges-Leygues: Libya bound eagles

France's second-largest warship, the helicopter carrier Mistral, is heading to Libya, escorted by the frigate Georges-Leygues. The Mistral is scheduled to take part in a European Union-led plan to repatriate Egyptian guest workers flooding out of Libya to escape unrest.
The Mistral and the Georges-Leygues together could carry 800 refugees. The Mistral (L9013) is an amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the French Navy. Georges Leygues (D640) is the lead ship of the F70 type anti-submarine frigate of the French Marine Nationale.She is the tender for the helicopter cruiser Jeanne d'Arc.


Mistral (L9013)
Class and type: Mistral-class amphibious assault ship
Displacement:

16,500 t (empty)
21,300 t (full load)
32,300 t (with ballasts)
Length: 199 m
Beam: 32 m
Draught: 6,3 m
Propulsion: Motorisation : 2 Mermaïd electric motors (2 × 7 MW)
2 5-bladed propellers
Electrical plant: 4 Wärtsilä diesels-alternators 16 V32 (6,2 MW) + 1 Wärtsilä Vasaa auxiliary diesel-alternator 18V200 (3 MW)
Speed: 18.8 knots
Range: 10,800 km at 18 knots
19,800 km at 15 knots
Capacity: 2 barges, one Leclerc battalion, 70 vehicles
Complement: 20 officers, 80 petty officers, 60 Quarter-masters, 450 passengers (900 for a short cruise), 150 men operational headquarter
Armament:

2 Simbad systems
2 30 mm Breda-Mauser
4 12.7 mm M2-HB Browning machine guns
Aircraft carried: 16 heavy or 35 light helicopters


Georges Leygues (D640)
Type: Anti-submarine Frigate
Displacement: 3,550 t (3,494 long tons)
4,500 t (4,429 long tons) full load
Length: 139 m (456 ft)
Beam: 14 m (46 ft)
Draught: 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in)
Propulsion: CODOG
2 × Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines, 26,000 hp (19,388 kW) each
2 × SEMT Pielstick 16PA6-V280 diesel engines, 5,200 hp (3,878 kW) each
Speed: 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Range: 8,500 miles
Complement: 235
Armament:

Anti-ship;

* 4 × MM38/MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles

Anti-submarine;

* 2 × fixed torpedo tubes (10 × L5 mod 4 or MU90 torpedoes)

Guns;

* 1 × Creusot-Loire Compact 100mm/55 Mod 68 DP gun
* 2 × 30 mm Breda-Mauser or 20 mm F2 anti-aircraft guns
2/4 × 12.7 machine guns

CIWS;

* 1 x Crotale Navale EDIR octuple launcher (26 × CIWS anti-air missiles)
* 2 × Simbad twin launcher (Mistral 4 x CIWS anti-air missiles)

Aircraft carried:

* 2 × Westland Lynx anti-ship helicopters

Kearsarge ARG: 400 marines added plus Ponce

Kearsarge delivered 1,400 Marines to Afghanistan and was serving as the U.S. Central Command reserve force. To augment the Marines remaining on the ship, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered 400 Marines from the United States in support of the Kearsarge’s mission. The secretary has ordered the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce – now in the Red Sea – to the Mediterranean. The Navy vessels “will provide us with capability for both emergency evacuations and humanitarian operations,” he said.

USS Ponce (LPD-15)
Type: Amphibious transport dock
Tonnage: 7,713 tons dwt
Displacement: 9,201 tons (light)
16,914 tons (full)
Length: 548 ft (167 m)w/l
569 ft (173 m) o/a
Beam: 84 ft (26 m) w/l
105 ft (32 m) extreme
Draft: 22 ft (6.7 m) navigational,
34 ft (10 m) ballasted
Propulsion: 2 × boilers, 2 × steam turbines, 2 × shafts, 24,000 shp (18,000 kW)
Speed: 21 knots (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Boats and landing
craft carried: 1 × LCAC, or
1 × LCU, or
4 × LCM-8, or
9 × LCM-6, or
24 × AAV
Complement: 24 officers, 396 enlisted, 900 marines
Armament: 2 × 25 mm Mk 38 guns
2 × Phalanx CIWS
8 × .50-calibre machine guns
Aircraft carried: Up to six CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters

earlier

Kearsarge ARG: transits Suez Canal

Kearsarge in the Red Sea is expected to transit soon through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, putting it closer to Libya, put more options on the table for President Obama

U.S. officials said the repositioning of the Navy ship puts it in position for a potential "show of force" to the Ghadafi regime.

The USS Kearsarge has helicopters and harrier jets aboard, as well as a complement of around 700 Marines from the 26th MEU – Marine Expeditionary Unit.
It had a larger complement of Marines aboard, but the majority of the marines from the 26th MEU were diverted to Afghanistan a month ago.

The movement of the USS Kearsarge into the Mediterranean is part of the repositioning of forces described below. One US official says it’s all about giving the President options. No decisions have been made about what role the ship will play off the coast of Libya.

However, one phrase being used is that it could be seen as a “show of force” to the Qaddafi regime. the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise re-entered the Red Sea, but it has not been given orders to transit back through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea.
The USS Mount Whitney command ship (LCC 20) has changed its position in the Mediterranean as well,

earlier

and earlier

Kearsarge ARG: USN Repositioning to Med

The United States military “is in the planning and preparing mode” on Libya, and will be able to provide the full range of options for national leaders, Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said here today.

The U.S. military is moving naval and air forces to the region, he said.

President Barack Obama asked the military to prepare these options as the situation in Libya gets worse. News reports indicate while Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi is attacking rebels in and around the capital of Tripoli, anti-regime forces hold the east.

In a Feb. 26 call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Obama said: “When a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now,” according to the White House.

The Defense Department has not been directly tasked for any mission, Lapan said.

“We have planners working various contingency plans,” he said. “It’s safe to say as a part of that, we’re re-positioning forces to provide for that flexibility. We are re-positioning forces in the region to provide options and flexibility.”
DoD

Earlier

Arctic Sea: Russia's beefed up presence

Arctoc Sea in Cadiz anchorage


The recent easy escape and disappearance of Russian spy "Christopher R. Metsos" may draw more attention to Russia's beefed up presence of intelligence operatives throughout the Mediterranean. The DOJ complaint says that in 2004 Metsos "was surreptitiously handed money in New York by a Russian government official ... a purported diplomat associated with the Manhattan-based Russian Mission." Metsos purportedly buried a portion of the money (said to be $40,000), which was later dug up by Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills, whom the FBI named "the Seattle Conspirators.

Pirates As the senior Western officials who addressed the German Marshall Fund indicated, these efforts to suppress piracy are largely cosmetic. But there is no need for Western navies to do the dirty work. It’s cheaper to engage the locals, as the US army does regularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yes, there will be some collateral damage. more

Arctic Sea: Russian spy still out there from Med

The laptop and "more than one" USB memory stick belonging to 54-year-old Christopher Robert Metsos U.S. authorities have requested .

The laptop and USB memory sticks were confiscated on June 29 when Metsos was arrested trying to board a flight to Budapest, Hungary. The items were not returned to Metsos after a Cyprus court released him on $33,000 bail on June 30, after which he promptly disappeared.