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Pakistan to buy four warships from China Monday, 04 April , 2005, 18:35 Islamabad: Pakistan is to buy four frigates for its navy from long-time ally China, the defence ministry said on Monday, ahead of a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. "Pakistan and China have signed four contracts for the construction of four F-22P frigate ships for Pakistan Navy," a Pakistani defence ministry statement said. The frigates will be equipped with anti-submarine helicopters, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and other defence systems, the statement added. "These ships, after construction, will be inducted into Pakistan Navy which would not only enhance...

China Gains Strategic Foothold Near Persian Gulf By Patrick Goodenough CNSNews.com International Editor February 23, 2005 Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Pakistan, within weeks, will mark the opening of the first phase of a deep-sea port project that analysts say will give China a crucial economic and strategic foothold in the Arabian Sea. Chinese funding has enabled President Pervez Musharraf's government to push ahead with the project on Pakistan's southwest coast, near the mouth of the Persian Gulf and some 250 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for world oil supplies. Experts say the project has set...

ISLAMABAD, March 23: Pakistan would join a UK-led seven-nation naval task force, which would patrol the Arabian Sea as part of the ongoing war on terrorism. The step would allow 'innocent passage' to the coalition ships to move through the country's territorial waters, sources told Dawn. Talking to Dawn, Commodore Shahid Nabil, the spokesperson for Pakistan Navy, said under the plan Pakistan Navy would get an opportunity to patrol with the "Maritime Coalition ships the international waters of the Arabian Sea". Sources said modalities for the patrol plan were worked out during the recent visit of British naval chief Admiral...

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The United States is leading a military exercise in the Arabian Sea this weekend that will further test the ability of a new security coalition to prevent rogue states and terrorists from transferring non-conventional weapons by sea. The air and sea maneuver involves naval forces from Australia, Singapore, Spain, Britain and Italy, with several other countries sending observers. The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), launched by President Bush last year, aims to prevent the illicit buying or selling of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and related technology by stopping and searching suspect ships or planes. The...

[View JPEG Photo, 1046 KB] Over 50 bags of hashish litter the deck of the dhow intercepted in the Arabian Gulf. A U.S. Navy boarding team operating from the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) discovered an estimated two tons of narcotics with a street value of around eight to ten million dollars aboard a 40-foot dhow intercepted in the Arabian Gulf. The dhow's 12 crewmembers were taken into custody and transferred to USS Decatur, and Decatur sailors are in control of the dhow. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Sandberg, U.S. Navy. (Released) 031216-N-4374S-030

[View JPEG Photo, 963 KB] The dhow intercepted by the USS Decatur moves under its own power in the Arabian Gulf. A U.S. Navy boarding team operating from the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) discovered an estimated two tons of narcotics with a street value of around eight to ten million dollars aboard a 40-foot dhow intercepted in the Arabian Gulf. The dhow's 12 crewmembers were taken into custody and transferred to USS Decatur, and Decatur sailors are in control of the dhow. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Sandberg, U.S. Navy. (Released) 031216-N-4374S-037

Explosion on U.S. Warship Near Gulf Injures 11-Navy Thu May 8, 2003 11:44 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eleven U.S. Marines were injured on Wednesday in an explosion in a trash container aboard the amphibious assault warship USS Saipan in the northern Arabian Sea, the Navy said. None of the injuries was life-threatening, although one of the eleven was evacuated to an American Army field hospital in Kuwait for treatment of a serious arm injury, the U.S. 5th Fleet said in a statement. Others were being treated aboard the ship. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the Navy...

Explosion on U.S. Warship Near Gulf Injures 11-Navy WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eleven U.S. Marines were injured on Wednesday in an explosion in a trash container aboard the amphibious assault warship USS Saipan in the northern Arabian Sea, the Navy said. None of the injuries was life-threatening, although one of the eleven was evacuated to an American Army field hospital in Kuwait for treatment of a serious arm injury, the U.S. 5th Fleet said in a statement. Others were being treated aboard the ship. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the Navy said. The 5th Fleet is based in...

Gradually, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier has made its way halfway across the world. It would be wrong for me to speculate on where it will be positioned. It has left the Indian Ocean, and according to US Navy sources, is now somewhere in the Arabian Sea -- technically now one of four carrier groups operating in the Arabian Sea. It is shortly going to be in a position to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln -- currently 3 months past its 6 month normal deployment. That might be reason for where and when it is deployed. Or there may be...

Russia is likely to send its navy to the Arabian Sea near the Gulf region where the United States is leading a war against Iraq, the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. Russian navy officials had earlier announced that at least two fleets - the Pacific and the Black Sea, would stage exercises in the Indian Ocean next month. However, there had previously been no mention of the Arabian Sea, which is on the Indian Ocean's northern tip and washes the shores of India, Iran, Oman and Yemen. The newspaper, which has developed a reputation for its good military ties, reported that...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 12/12/02 - Arabian Sea, Taji, al-Karamah, Mosayyab, al-Furat, Nablus, Sulaimaniya, Tel Aviv, Kuwaiti desert, Mombasa, Boston BREAKING: Arabian Sea BREAKING: Taji, al-Karamah BREAKING: Mosayyab, al-Furat Nablus, Sulaimaniya, Tel Aviv, Kuwaiti desert, Mombasa, Boston ========= Arabian Sea ========= In the Arabian Sea, North Korea was caught giving Scud missiles to Yemen. Spanish sailors fire at the North Korean ship So San intercepted at daw. In the Arabian Sea, Spanish marine special forces board the So San. FOUND: ~12 hidden Scud missiles bound for Yemen in what is claimed to be the Yemeni Moon...

T O R O N T O, July 15 — A Canadian destroyer captured two al-Qaida suspects after a nighttime chase in the north Arabian Sea, Canadian military officials said Monday. The two suspects were among about 25 people in one of three small, motorized boats spotted by a Canadian military aircraft late Saturday in the Gulf of Oman, where boats packed with emigrants are not unusual. "Because of our concerns that terrorists could be sneaking in among these illegal immigrants to escape from Afghanistan, we do a very careful check of each one of the people in the boat,"...