U.S. fish boat collided with docked Canadian navy six; 6 suffer minor injuries

By The Canadian Press - Tuesday, April 23, 2013 - 0 Comments

VICTORIA – An American fishing trawler rammed a Canadian navy vessel tied up at…

VICTORIA – An American fishing trawler rammed a Canadian navy vessel tied up at dock at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Tuesday, injuring several people.

A statement from Maritimes Forces Pacific said that at the time of the crash, the HMCS Winnipeg was tied up alongside the force’s base jetty.

BC Ambulance Service said its crews took six people to Victoria General Hospital with what were classified as minor injuries.

Larry Edwards was nearby at the time of the collision and watched the large trawler ram the much smaller warship.

“When it hit, there was a wall of water that came up over the bow of the Winnipeg that was higher than the bow. It washed right over on the other side,” he said.

“I saw the Winnipeg move back on the dock a good 20, 30 feet, it really shifted it.”

The amount of damage to the ships was unclear, but the warship and the trawler, owned by the American Seafoods Co. based in Seattle, remained joined at the bows for much of the day.

American Seafoods released a brief statement confirming the collision involving it’s fishing vessel, American Dynasty.

“The cause of the collision is currently under investigation. American Seafoods and the vessel crew are co-operating fully with Canadian and U.S. authorities.

The Winnipeg has been under a refit as part of an estimated $4.5 billion dollar upgrade for Canadian naval ships.

Repair bill for damaged warship rose by $5 million, shipyard says

By The Canadian Press - Friday, January 4, 2013 at 4:13 PM - 0 Comments

HALIFAX – The shipyard that did refit work on a navy warship before it…

HALIFAX – The shipyard that did refit work on a navy warship before it was damaged while returning to Halifax says the repair bill had already cost $5 million more than expected before the vessel left its dock.

The Defence Department announced last February that Seaway Marine Inc. of St. Catharines, Ont., was awarded a $21.7 million contract to repair HMCS Athabaskan as part of a scheduled refit. The company was contracted to repair air pressure systems and firefighting and deck equipment, as well as strip, repair and repaint the underwater portion of the hull.

But Charles Payne, the company’s president, said inspectors discovered more rust and damage than expected when they examined the 40-year-old destroyer. Continue…
The navy’s great barrier grief

By Kristy Hutter - Monday, January 23, 2012 at 9:20 AM - 0 Comments

A floating security fence to protect warships in Halifax Harbour has fallen victim to a more modest assault: mussels

Andrew Vaughan/CP

A floating security fence built in 2007 to prevent terrorists from attacking warships in Halifax Harbour has fallen victim to a more modest assault: mussels. The defensive barrier, designed by Ohio-based Worthington Products, is meant to protect Canadian and visiting naval ships from foreign threats, such as small vessels carrying explosives. But now the fence has been temporarily dismantled after throngs of mussels and kelp latched onto the submerged part of the fence, weighing it down.

The need for harbour security became evident after al-Qaeda carried out a suicide attack on the USS Cole in October 2000, piloting a small boat filled with explosives into the ship’s side while it was docked at a refuelling station in Aden, Yemen. Seventeen American soldiers were killed and 40 were injured.

This isn’t the first time Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on the barrier, however. In 2008, just three months after the 1.6-km fence was installed by Dartmouth-based Waterworks Construction, it had to be removed and repaired when it was discovered that strong currents were causing the metal links that hold it together to fracture. Critics have slammed the design of the fence, saying it should have been engineered to withstand the rough waters of the harbour. Dennis Smith, CEO of New Jersey-based WhisprWave, a rival company that builds floating barriers, told the media the barrier was under-engineered. “That structure was not designed for rough water.”

But the Royal Canadian Navy, which is in charge of operating and maintaining the fence, insists the removal of sea growth is just part of routine upkeep. After the marine life is removed from the booms, they will be reinstalled, although the Department of National Defence was unable to confirm when that would be.
This navy is hardly shipshape

By Jane Switzer - Monday, April 4, 2011 at 9:58 AM - 0 Comments

Alcohol and sex aren’t the only problems in the Australian military

Rob Griffith/AFP/Getty Images

Following revelations of a “predatory culture” full of drunken misconduct, the head of Australia’s navy has orders for his troops: shape up or ship out. Addressing the entire navy by video link last week, Vice-Admiral Russ Crane threatened to ban alcohol consumption during overseas port visits following the release of a report detailing bad behaviour on board the HMAS Success in 2009. The report accuses sailors of preying on young female recruits and betting on how many colleagues they could sleep with as part of a “sex ledger.” At the end of a tour, mariners would also receive a cash prize for outlandish sexual conquests.

But alcohol and sex aren’t the only problems in the Australian military—it was revealed last year that nearly 600 military personnel had been caught taking illegal drugs and steroids in the past five years. While he threatened mandatory breath tests, drug testing and curfews, Crane said the recent report raises more serious issues about the treatment of women in the navy: “I cannot accept a situation where women feel threatened by their male counterparts,” he said. “This type of behaviour must and will be eradicated.”
Why are we setting pirates free?

By Philippe Gohier - Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 1:00 PM - 0 Comments

The U.S. is arresting pirates, but Canada is cutting them loose

Late Saturday, a Canadian warship escorting a shipment of aid through the Gulf of Aden crossed paths with Somali pirates attacking a Norwegian oil tanker. After a seven-hour nighttime chase, which included warning shots fired at the pirates’ skiff, the crew of the HMCS Winnipeg caught up with the pirates, seized a single rocket-propelled grenade from their vessel, and took seven of them prisoner. But there was an anticlimactic end to the Canadian sailors’ hard-won victory: they were told to send the pirates home, releasing them unconditionally.

Such incidents are becoming more common as international authorities have more success at intercepting Somali attacks, and that’s raising a difficult question: if pirates are captured on the high seas, when does the country that captures them have the right to bring them to trial?

Continue…