USS Barry in Valletta Port

The United States naval vessel USS Barry (DDG 52) - an Arleigh Burke Class (Flight I) Destroyer - has arrived this morning in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) on a five-day visit.

USS Barry is currently berthing alongside at Pinto-4/5 Wharf and she's scheduled to sail from Malta on Wednesday, February 2nd, at 0900LT.

AFM patrol boat in Frontex mission

Malta may have taken a breather from dealing with illegal migrants but for 17 soldiers the next four weeks will be a crude reminder that one country’s reprieve is another’s burden.

After the flow of immigration in the central Mediterranean was stymied when Italy and Libya agreed to jointly patrol the Libyan coast, the focus shifted to the border between Greece and Turkey.

Although the biggest problem is the land border between the two eastern Mediterranean countries, the EU’s Frontex border patrol mission in Greece has not let down its guard in the sea separating both countries.

An Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat is expected to join the Frontex mission, code-named Poseidon Sea, off the Greek island of Samos, barely two kilometres from mainland Turkey.

The P52 patrol boat is expected to leave Malta tomorrow with 16 crew members on board for a four-week deployment. They will be joined by Acting Lieutenant Colonel A. Mallia, Malta’s officer at the Frontex coordination centre in Piraeus.

According to Lt Col Mallia the operation is a preventive one meant to deter criminal organisations from using the sea route to traffic people.

"The risk at this time of the year is low and, of late, the focus has shifted more to the land border between Greece and Turkey. However, with Greece wanting to build a fence, the flow of immigration may revert back to the sea route," he said.

Speaking at the AFM’s maritime squadron base in Pietà, where the final preparations were being made, Lt Col Mallia said the mission was a show of solidarity with Greece.

"It is always important for the EU to have secure external borders and, as Malta has always said, one country’s problem is everybody else’s," he said.

The deployment comes in the shadow of an incident last year when five Maltese soldiers forming part of the land-based Frontex mission on the Greek island of Lesvos were recalled by the army after they were involved in a bar brawl while off-duty.

When asked whether the incident negatively influenced the AFM’s participation in this year’s mission, Lt Col Mallia said this was not the case. "Our personnel have a code of conduct they must adhere to at all times. I do not foresee any problems. The crew members are mature and experienced and I am confident they will act responsibly," he said.

The AFM deployment is also considered to be an important training exercise for the soldiers, who will be operating in a new environment.

According to Captain E. Scicluna, who will lead the crew, the deployment is "a challenge and an adventure".

"It is one of the longest deployments for a patrol boat since we will be travelling some 700 miles over 60 hours to reach the destination. We are honoured to have been chosen to serve our country in this way," he said.

The patrol boat will be operating strictly on the Greek side of the sea border with Turkey, which is very sensitive given the geographical proximity and the historical animosity of the two countries. It will remain under Maltese command and the soldiers will operate in line with the mission guidelines agreed beforehand.

(www.timesofmalta.com)

FGS Auerbach/Oberpfalz in Valletta Port

The German naval vessel, FGS Auerbach/Oberpfalz (M 1093) - an Ensdorf Class (Type 352) Mine Coutermeasure (Drone Control) Vessel - has arrived this afternoon in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) on a courtesy visit.

FGS Auerbach/Oberpfalz is currently berthing alongside at Pinto-2 Wharf and she's expected to sail from Malta on Thursday, January 27th.

M.I.A. registers 12.8% increase in pax movements in 2010

Malta International Airport plc (M.I.A.) has announced its official traffic results for 2010, with an increase of 12.8% in passenger movements when compared to 2009. This increase signifies that the number of passengers at M.I.A. for 2010 has reached the record figure of 3.29 million.

Aircraft movements at M.I.A. increased to 28,936 which is +10% when compared to 2009 whilst seat capacity increased by 10.6%.

M.I.A.’s main markets for 2010 were the U.K. with a share of 31.4% translating into 1,032,610 passengers (+3.3%) followed by Italy and Germany with 19.5% or 641,814 passengers (+28.8%) and 12.8% or 422,498 passengers (+1.4%) respectively.

Passenger movements at Malta IAP in December reached 174,630, i.e. the highest number ever registered in December. The increase in passenger movements, when compared to the same month last year, is equivalent to an increase of 10.6%. Seat capacity in the same month was of 279,069, i.e. an increase of 10.9% over December 2010.

(www.maltairport.com)

FGS S75 Zobel in Valletta Port for a few hours stop

The German naval fast-attack craft, FGS S75 Zobel (P 6125) - a Gepard Class (Type 143A), has arrived this morning (at 1015LT) in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) for a few hours stop to take up stores. FGS S75 Zobel sailed again from Malta at 1415LT.

HMS Echo in Valletta Port

The Royal naval vessel HMS Echo (H 87) - an Echo Class Multi-role Survey Vessel (Hydrographic/Oceanographic (SVHO)) - has arrived this morning in Valletta Port (Grand Harbour) on a five-day visit.

HMS Echo was built by Appledore shipbuilders in North Devon under the prime contractor Vosper Thorneycroft Ltd. The vessel is 90.6m long with a displacement of 3,470 tonnes and is capable of 15 knots. She was launched on March 2nd 2002 and named by Lady Haddacks in Appledore on March 4th the same year. HMS Echo was accepted into service on October 4th, 2002 and commissioned on March 7th 2003.

HMS Echo has set sail from her home base on January 3rd, 2011 on a two-year deployment to conduct operations in the Red Sea, Gulf, Indian Ocean, Middle East and Far East.

HMS Echo is currently starboard alongside at Pinto-3 Wharf, and she's expected to sail from Malta this Saturday, January 15th, at 1400LT.

AFM signs second contract for new maritime patrol aircraft

The Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) has recently signed the contract for the provision of the second maritime patrol aircraft, funded from the 2010 External Borders Fund (EBF).

The project is co-financed with 75% of the funds being sourced from the EBF and remaining 25% being allocated from the Maltese Government. The global sum allocated to this project was that of €9.696 million. The contract was signed between Brigadier M. G. Xuereb - Commander AFM, Mr. H. J. Stahl - President Aerodata AG and Mr. F. Attard - Director General Contracts (Malta).

This AFM-operated aircraft will augment the current fixed wing fleet and will perform an additional role in the protection of the Southern external borders of the EU, through missions which include detection, identification and coordination operations. In a secondary function, the aircraft will perform search and rescue flights.

This contract is an option to the first contract that the AFM signed with the Germany Company Aerodata AG in October 2009 for the supply of a fully equipped new B200 KingAir, complete with integrated systems, training and a service support package. The new contract with Aerodata is for the supply of an identical aircraft equipped with the same mission systems and includes also additional training and an extension on the maintenance agreement.

The B200 KingAir is an aircraft manufactured by Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, based in Wichita, USA. Aerodata, as the prime contractor will again handle the complete process chain to provide a fully equipped aircraft.

The specialised mission system equipment, sourced from Europe and America, integrates a Telephonics RDR 1700B 360° belly mounted radar, a Wescam MX 15i Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system, SAR direction finder plus a number of other sensors and communication equipment, including satellite communication and data transmission. The aircraft will be modified at the Aerodata’s facilities at Braunschweig airport.

The AFM will take delivery of this aircraft in March 2012. The first KingAir (pictured below) is expected to be delivered in February 2011. A number of Officers and men have already been trained on the aircraft and system. Aircraft related training is performed Pilots and technicians are being trained on type in Wichita, USA; while mission equipment training is carried out at Aerodata’s facilities in Germany.

(AFM Press Release)

Air Malta's 9H-AEN departs on wet-lease to Sky Airline

Air Malta's 9H-AEN (A320, c/n. 2665) has departed this morning from Malta IAP to Santiago's Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, Chile, with two technical stops for fuel at Sal Airport in Cape Verde and Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, on wet-lease to Sky Airline for two months.

This is the third time that Air Malta is wet-leasing one of its aircraft to Chile's Sky Airline in the winter season. 9H-AEF (A320, c/n. 2142) was on wet-lease twice, from January to March 2007 and then from January to March 2009.

9H-AEN is expected back in Malta in the first week of March 2011.