UK Confirms Royal Navy and Air Force are Being Deployed to the Eastern Med

PUBLISHED OCT 13, 2023 2:48 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

The UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed in a statement on Friday that he has given the command to deploy Royal Air Force and Royal Navy assets into the Eastern Mediterranean, with the first patrols beginning today as Israel appears ready to enter the Gaza Strip. Sunak said the efforts would be alongside allies already in the region while the U.S. Navy released additional pictures of the USS Gerald R. Ford reported to now be in position in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Surveillance aircraft from the Royal Air Force were the first asset to become active with the Ministry of Defense saying they had been assigned to begin patrols “to help partners track emerging threats to regional security.” Among the specific roles they said they would be monitoring for is the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. The Prime Minister said the efforts were specifically to promote regional stability and prevent further escalation.

Following the surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy ships are also being directed into the region. They are the RFA Lyme and RFA Argus, of the auxiliary fleet. The RFA Lyme is a 16,600 dwt Bay-class landing ship dock designed to deliver troops, vehicles, stores, and ammunition and support the ongoing waves of an amphibious assault. The RFA Argus (28,000 dwt) is a Primary Casualty Receiving Ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. With a 100-bed medical complex on board, she acts as a floating medical facility.

“Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will also support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists,” said Prime Minister Sunak. “We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated.”

The UK’s full military package will also include P8 aircraft, surveillance assets, and three merlin helicopters. A company of Royal Marines will be on standby to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region and offer deterrence and assurance. The two auxiliary vessels will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean next week. Further, the Prime Minister has also asked for all military teams in Israel, Cyprus, and across the region, to be bolstered to support contingency planning and the efforts of neighboring countries to deal with any spillover from instability in Israel.

This came after the U.S. Navy confirmed earlier in the week that the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group had arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. They said the mission was to deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen the war.

"The arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation," said General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. forces in the area now include the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, with its eight squadrons of attack and support aircraft, and the Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy, as well as the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/uk-confirms-royal-navy-and-air-force-are-being-deployed-to-the-eastern-med

Two Amphibs Head Towards Israel, and a Third Puts to Sea in the Med

PUBLISHED OCT 17, 2023 3:43 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Two U.S. Navy amphibs carrying hundreds of Marines are heading in the general direction of Israel, defense officials told CNN and Politico last night. A third American amphib from the same command has departed a port in Spain.

The USS Carter Hall and USS Bataan, two of the three amphibs of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, are departing their station in the Arabian Sea and transiting towards the Mediterranean, the Navy confirmed. While they do not have orders yet to hold station off Israel, they are expected to receive that command soon. The force will stand by in case it is needed to assist with the evacuation of American citizens.

Carter Hall and Bataan were deployed to the Middle East in June as part of a larger effort to discourage Iran from interfering with commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Together, they carry a force of Marines and related aviation assets selected from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

In August, USS Mesa Verde separated from Carter Hall and Bataan in order to stay in Europe and support other objectives. When the flotilla split up, elements of the embarked 26th MEU were also divided and cross-decked at sea - a substantial undertaking - in order to maintain expeditionary capabilities on all three of the ships. If Mesa Verde, Carter Hall and Bataan were to reunite at a given location, the Marine components of a full ARG would be brought back together.

If the three amphibs all transit to the Eastern Mediterranean, they would add to a growing accumulation of firepower off the coast of Israel. One carrier strike group is already present, and a second is under way. The ARG and its 2,400 Marines would add a different set of capabilities: the 26th MEU is designated Special Operations Capable (SOC), and is trained and equipped for "amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations, to include enabling the introduction of follow-on forces."

https://maritime-executive.com/article/two-amphibs-head-towards-israel-and-a-third-puts-to-sea-in-the-med

>>19754439

Nostradamus…again?

Sweden Says Telecom Cable with Estonia Damaged

By Niklas Pollard and Anne Kauranen October 17, 2023

STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI, Oct 17 (Reuters) – A Baltic Sea telecom cable connecting Sweden and Estonia was damaged at roughly the same time as a Finnish-Estonian pipeline and cable were earlier this month, but remains operational, Sweden’s civil defense minister said on Tuesday.

Separately, Finnish investigators said they had identified vessels operating in the area where the damage to the pipeline and cable occurred on Oct. 8, naming two of them, a Russian-flagged ship and a Chinese-owned vessel.

The Russian authority responsible for nuclear-powered vessels, Atomflot, denied that one of its ships had been involved.

The damage to the Swedish-Estonian cable was sustained outside the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of Sweden, the country’s civil defense minister, Carl-Oskar Bohlin said, and the cable continues to function since then.

“We can’t say at the moment what caused this damage,” he told a news conference.

“But what we can say is that this damage has happened at a similar time and in physical proximity … to the damage that was previously reported to a gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland and a telecommunications cable between Estonia and Finland.”

Network provider Arelion confirmed one if its subsea fiber cables had been “partially damaged.”

“We currently do not know what caused the damage. The cable will be repaired over the next few weeks depending on the weather,” an Arelion spokesperson said.

Estonian Economic Affairs and Communications Ministry told Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR that the damage occurred on a cable to Sweden some 50 km (30 miles) west of Hiiumaa Island.

A NATO official told Reuters the alliance was aware of the reports of damage to the Swedish-Estonian cable and was in close contact with both countries and monitoring the situation.

Estonia is a NATO member while Sweden is waiting on ratification to join.

The head of Sweden’s navy said policing surface and undersea traffic in the Baltic was a challenge.

“The situation at sea is very intense,” Rear Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum said. “There is a lot of traffic on the surface and everything that happens under the surface is ‘deniable.’ The challenge for us is to monitor this volume of water.”

VESSELS IN AREA

Europe and NATO have become increasingly concerned about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure around and under the Baltic Sea.

The latest incidents follow explosions in September 2022 that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea and cut Europe’s supply of Russian gas.

Finland said on Oct. 8 that the Balticconnector subsea gas pipeline and a telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia had been damaged in what may have been a deliberate act.

Finnish authorities said last week that “external marks” had been found on the seabed beside the damaged pipeline and that they were reviewing vessel traffic in the area at the time of the rupture.

In an update, Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it had used open sources to determine the vessels operating in the area at the time of the incident.

“Investigative measures have been focused on several vessels, including the NewNew Polar Bear and Sevmorput, but also on others which, according to data, had been in the area at the time of the damage,” NBI said in a statement.

“Besides the movements of the vessels, their background and earlier activity are examined in cooperation with authorities from other countries,” it said.

The NewNew Polar Bear is a container vessel owned and operated by Chinese company NewNew Shipping, while Sevmorput is a Russian-flagged, nuclear-powered, cargo ship.

Sevmorput owner Atomflot, a subsidiary of Russian nuclear industry company Rosatom, rejected as “groundless” any suggestion its vessel had been involved.

An Atomflot statement said that on the day at issue the Sevmorput had been operating from Murmansk to St. Petersburg and had passed through the Gulf of Finland “without slowing down.”

“The crew did not observe or record anything unusual, suspicious, or otherwise reportable,” Atomflot said.

NewNew Shipping declined to comment.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in a recent news conference said there was a “spaghetti” of critical infrastructure at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, and announced that Sweden and its partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force – a 10-nation military alliance – would look at ways to improve protection of crucial pipes and cables.

https://gcaptain.com/sweden-says-telecom-cable-with-estonia-damaged/