Chinese Missile Boat Undertakes ‘Alarming’ Action

Chinese Missile Boat Undertakes ‘Alarming’ Action (archived)

A Chinese navy missile craft shadowed a Philippine civilian ship on Friday in an unprecedented encounter that one analyst described as “alarming.”

The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel the BRP Datu Romapenet was en route to a South China Sea feature known as Half Moon Shoal to deliver supplies to fishermen.

Half Moon Shoal is situated at the eastern edge of the Spratly Islands and about 60 miles from the Philippine province of Palawan, well within the Southeast Asian country’s recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

According to the Philippines’ ABS-CBN News, which was onboard, the ship picked up a tail in the form of a Houbei-class (Type 22) guided-missile craft, easily identifiable by its wide camouflaged catamaran hull.

Chester Cabalza, founder of Manila-based think tank the International Development and Security Cooperation, told the news agency it was the first time a Type 22 had been spotted in the EEZ.

“This incident is alarming because a missile ship shadowed our BFAR ship,” Cabalza said, adding that it was a show of power intended to intimidate the Philippines.

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Alleged Chinese Nuclear Submarine Sinking: Separating Facts From Bullshit

Source

Western defence media has recently been buzzing with the story of a Chinese SSN allegedly sinking in the Yangtze River near Wuhan. But is it actually true? We take a look at the likelihood of this.

Alleged Chinese Nuclear Submarine Sinking: Separating Facts From Bullshit

Related:

China denies U.S. claim that its newest nuclear submarine sank at pier

A growing problem of ‘deepfake geography’: How AI falsifies satellite images (Archived)

Looking Back, Looking Ahead: World War II Provides Lessons for Pacific Submarine Posture

Previously:

South China Sea: Maritime Counterinsurgency:

Brent Sadler is with the Heritage Foundation:

Its initial funding was provided by Joseph Coors, of the Coors beer empire, and Richard Mellon Scaife, heir of the Mellon industrial and banking fortune. Its founders include Paul Weyrich and Mickey Edwards. The Foundation maintains strong ties with the London Institute of Economic Affairs and the Mont Pelerin Society.SourceWatch

Richard Mellon Scaife (Mellon family), Committee on the Present Danger/MembersScaife Foundations (WikiSpooks), Atlas NetworkKock Network, State Policy Network, ALEC, Council for National Policy

‘Ya Casi Venezuela’ Signifies a Crossroads for the Opposition

With a campaign of intrigue on social media launched on September 16, the US businessman and founder of the infamous mercenary company Blackwater, Erik Prince, promoted a plan to raise funds to prepare an eventual armed invasion of Venezuela and the overthrow of its authorities. Although Prince has not fully claimed responsibility for the campaign, he has been one of its most prominent spokespersons.

‘Ya Casi Venezuela’ Signifies a Crossroads for the Opposition

Related:

Attorney General’s Office Is Investigating ‘Ya Casi Venezuela’ Coup Plot

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior: María Corina Machado is Behind Latest Terrorist Plot (along w/ Erik Prince)

Sole US Navy Oiler – USNS Big Horn – in the Middle East Damaged | September 23, 2024

What’s Going On With Shipping

by John Konrad – gCaptain has received multiple reports that the US Navy oiler USNS Big Horn ran aground yesterday and partially flooded off the coast of Oman, leaving the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group without its primary fuel source.

US Navy Oiler Runs Aground, Forcing Carrier Strike Group to Scramble for Fuel

Related:

Oiler USNS Big Horn Damaged off the Coast Of Oman, No Fuel Leak Detected

The US Navy Needs Tankers: A Crisis In Capability

US sending more troops to Middle East as violence rises in the region

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior: María Corina Machado is Behind Latest Terrorist Plot (along w/ Erik Prince)

Source

The Venezuelan minister for interior, justice and peace, Diosdado Cabello, emphasized that behind the entire mercenary operation reported on Saturday is the ultra-right-winger María Corina Machado*. Machado is also fighting with the fugitive from justice, Leopoldo López**, said Cabello, for control of the money of the new mercenary operation against Venezuela.

In a special interview with the Telesur channel, Cabello said on Saturday, September 14, “They call it the ‘liberation of Venezuela;’ they are fighting over who controls it.”

Far-right Venezuelans based in the United States have launched a campaign named “Ya Casi Venezuela” (“we are almost ready, Venezuela”) where they announced that the mercenary tycoon Erik Prince will begin a massive fundraising effort to collect US 600 million dollars to organize a mercenary operation to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranked Chavista leaders.

Prince’s operation, according to many analysts, is directly linked with the new mercenary plot unveiled in Venezuela where US and Spanish intelligence operatives have been captured.

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior: María Corina Machado is Behind Latest Terrorist Plot

Erik Prince’s full interview on Ya Casi Venezuela is here. He says that they’ve currently raised $100 million. More notes are at the bottom of the next page.

Related:

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Navy to sideline 17 vessels due to manpower shortage

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The Navy will reportedly sideline 17 vessels due to a manpower shortage that makes it difficult to properly crew and operate ships across the fleet. 

Navy to sideline 17 vessels due to manpower shortage, operating crews will be redistributed: report

Related:

Navy Could Sideline 17 Support Ships Due to Manpower Issues

“This is basically the result of many years of neglect and mismanagement of their force,” Sal Mercogliano, former MSC mariner and associate professor of history at Campbell University told USNI News on Thursday.
“They are just burning through people.”

While the order has yet to be signed, Mercogliano has tracked EPFs beginning to return to the U.S. from aboard far from the end of their expected service lives.

“These ships have a lot of life in them,” he said.