Navy secretary: Offshore power indispensable

Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter on Wednesday voiced his strong support for modernizing and expanding the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ capability to wage expeditionary warfare throughout the world.

“Maritime dominance, the cornerstone of naval operations since World War II, is still indispensable to America’s national security,” Winter said in a speech at the 12th annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference at Bay Point Marriott Resort.

“The health of our economy depends on safe passage through the seas,” Winter told the audience of more than 600 defense industry executives and military officers.

While Winter and other conference speakers stressed the importance of the U.S. military working with its traditional allies and coalition partners, the Navy secretary confirmed that in any number of scenarios, the nation might have to go it alone. That, he indicated, underscores the need to develop an autonomous “sea basing” concept that will employ customized logistics ships which can support a combat operation without reliance on shore bases and seaports.

North Korea Committed To Creating Peace Zone In West Sea: Report

North Korea is committed to easing inter-Korean military tension in the West Sea by creating a peace zone, but insists that a disputed sea border line be redrawn, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper published in Japan said Thursday.

In their second-ever summit in early October, North and South Korea agreed to create a joint fishing area in the West Sea to avoid armed conflicts around the disputed inter-Korean sea border. Called the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the western sea border was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but has never been recognized by Pyongyang.

“A situation to reach a peaceful resolution is gradually being built … North Korea is firmly committed to its intention of making the West Sea a sea of peace,” said the Choson Sinbo, the newspaper of pro-Pyongyang residents in Japan that is largely seen as reflecting North Korea’s views.

U.S. Coast Guard to monitor Arctic shipping routes

A U.S. Coast Guard reconnaissance team is heading to the far north this week to scope out a new frontier that the warming Arctic climate is opening to ship traffic.

The Coast Guard could set up an operations base in Barrow as early as next spring to monitor waters that are now free of ice for longer periods of the year. Weather permitting, a scouting crew will fly 1,900 kilometres Thursday from Barrow, the northernmost U.S. town, to the North Pole.

“This is a new area for us to do surveillance,” said Rear Adm. Arthur E. Brooks, commander of the Coast Guard’s Alaska district. “We’re going primarily to see what’s there, what ships, if any, are up there.”

Thinning ice has made travel along the northern coast increasingly attractive, said Adm. Brooks, who plans to accompany the crew in the C-130 flight. Tankers and even cruise ships are beginning to venture into the domain once travelled only by indigenous hunters and research vessels, such as the Coast Guard ice-cutter Healy.

China gives Cambodia more patrol boats

China is giving Cambodia nine naval patrol boats to safeguard oil installations in the Gulf of Thailand, another sign of Beijing’s deepening ties with the Southeast Asian nation, military officials said on Thursday.

“These boats will enable us to prevent maritime crimes such as terrorism, but also to protect natural resources within our sea territory,” said General Nim Sovath, who attended a signing ceremony in the Chinese city of Guangzhou this week.

An army-run Cambodian TV channel heralded the deal as evidence of stronger military cooperation with China, which provided Phnom Penh with six naval patrol boats in 2005 to help combat people and drug smuggling.

Colombia arrests navy captain for aiding drug smugglers

A Colombian navy captain was arrested Tuesday in connection with aiding drug smugglers, the country’s deputy attorney general, General Guillermo Mendoza, announced.

Jorge Ahumada, who captained a corvette class warship, is charged with handing over route information to Eduardo Jaramillo, alias The Condor, a businessman who supplied coastguard uniforms and worked as a drug smuggler’s go-between.

The attorney general’s investigations into the navy have also raised suspicions about rear admiral Gabriel Arango, who has enjoyed a glowing career in the navy. Arango has denied all charges.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 and is filed under Cambodia, China, Coast Guard, Columbia, Maritime Strategy News, Navy, North Korea. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.