Latest news with #SeaKing
India Gazette
a day ago
- General
- India Gazette
ICG, Navy and IAF execute high-risk operation to stabilise fire-hit Singaporean vessel off Kochi
ANI 14 Jun 2025, 23:51 GMT+10 Kochi (Kerala) [India], June 14 (ANI): In a major development in the firefighting and salvage operation of Singaporean Vessel MV Wan Hai 503, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), along with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, successfully transferred the tow of the distressed container vessel to the ocean-going tug Offshore Warrior on June 13. As per an official release, the ICG had been holding the vessel away from the Kerala coast for several days, but sudden deterioration in weather conditions and strong westerly winds caused it to dangerously drift toward the shoreline. Despite adverse weather that restricted aerial operations and delayed salvage crew boarding, a Navy Sea King helicopter launched from Kochi on June 13 successfully winched salvage team members onto the vessel under extremely challenging conditions. The team then managed to connect a 600-metre tow rope to Offshore Warrior approximately 20 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi. The vessel is now being towed westward at a speed of 1.8 knots and is nearly 35 nautical miles offshore, the release stated. Three ICG Offshore Patrol Vessels are continuing to escort the container ship and sustain firefighting operations. At present, only thick smoke and a few isolated hotspots remain onboard, a testament to the ICG's effective firefighting efforts that have helped avert a major environmental disaster. The ICG is closely coordinating with the Directorate General of Shipping to ensure the vessel remains at least 50 nautical miles from the Indian coastline until its fate is determined by the owners, in accordance with international norms. The situation is expected to further stabilise with the anticipated arrival of additional firefighting tugs. (ANI)
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
2 days ago
- General
- Business Standard
ICG reports major milestone in dousing fire on Singapore-flagged cargo ship
The Indian Coast Guard on Friday said it has achieved a "major milestone" in the ongoing operation to suppress fire onboard a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel that occurred following a container explosion on June 9, as its towing commenced to keep away the ship away from the coast. The incident had occurred at approximately 9.20 am IST, around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal in Kannur district of Kerala and 130 nautical miles northwest of Kochi. "Major milestone in the ongoing operation to suppress the fire onboard MV WAN HAI 503 and protect marine environment! @IndiaCoastGuard ships undertaking FF Op enabled tow connect up of Salvage vessel in extremely challenging and daunting operation. @indiannavy Sea King helicopter was tasked by #HQSNC to winch down salvors who shifted the tow from #ICG ships to Salvage Tugs," the ICG posted on X. It also shared some photos of the ongoing operation. "The tow has now commenced and the vessel is being pulled to keep away from our coast! ICG fire fighting Op continues," it said. Of the 22 crew members of the Singapore-flagged vessel, 18 were rescued by the Navy, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and other agencies on Monday. The crew members include eight Chinese, six Taiwanese, five Myanmarese, and three Indonesian nationals, the ICG had said in a statement on June 9. The fire on board the Singapore-flagged container vessel has been largely contained, though it is still not fully under control, defence sources had said on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Times
07-06-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Corona del Mar High grads ‘are destined for great things,' their proud principal says
Demonstrating their Sea King pride to their very last day on campus, the senior class of Corona del Mar High School was honored Thursday by friends and family during 2 p.m. commencement exercises on the school's athletic field. There were 371 members of the Class of 2025 and a vast majority of them, some 90%, are headed to four-year universities, according to school officials. Six percent will enroll in two-year colleges, 2% are looking ahead to attending a trade school and two of the new grads are joining the military. Student speakers bringing inspirational words to the afternoon ceremony included ASB President Ganon Overfelt and, representing the Valedictorian Scholars were Alex Miloslovich and Macey Grimmond. Brooklyn Hamilton and graduating vocal members of CdM Madrigal Choir performed for the appreciative crowd. Principal Jacob Haley offered up warm observations of this group of Sea Kings: 'The Class of 2025 exemplifies the very best of our Corona del Mar community, having approached their high school years with respect, thoughtful reflection that led to genuine growth, and a deep curiosity — most evident in their willingness to ask meaningful questions throughout their educational journey. They are destined for great things ahead.' Nearly $1 million in awards in honors, awards and scholarships were racked up by this class, officials said. That number's not surprising, given that 35% attained a 4.0 grade point average or higher while 80% of the class had GPAs of 3.0 or higher. — Daily Pilot Staff
Telegraph
23-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
The former Spitfire factory building Britain's drone army
Britain's longest-running aircraft factory has built it all – from Spitfires and Seafire planes to the Sea King, Lynx and Merlin helicopters. But now a crack team of engineers at the Leonardo facility in Yeovil, Somerset, are working on the next big revolution: a helicopter that flies itself. The Proteus demonstrator drone – believed to be a world-first – is being developed by the company on behalf of the Royal Navy, with test flights expected to take place later this year. It is roughly the size of a transit van but has no cabin. Nor will it be remotely piloted, like other drones used by the military. Instead, Proteus will use a combination of clever computer software with an array of cameras and sensors to autonomously take off, land and carry out its missions. To begin with, this will mean assisting with tracking Russian submarine activity in the North Sea. But the drone's Thunderbird 2-style 'modular mission bay' means it could eventually be used for a wide variety of tasks, both military and civilian, from intelligence-gathering and cargo transportation to even tackling forest fires. 'Proteus will do what we call the 'dull and dangerous' stuff that you don't want to use people for if you can help it,' explains Nigel Colman, managing director of Leonardo Helicopters UK. 'You won't have to put people's lives at risk. You won't have to be limited by food rations or, quite frankly, the size of your bladder. 'It provides mass, reduced cost of ownership and reduced workforce requirements, so it's tackling all those challenges that the Navy faces with crewed aircraft.' Colman was a navigator for the RAF for 30 years, serving in the cockpits of Merlins, Wildcats and Pumas during deployments to the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Northern Ireland. He is keen to stress that Proteus isn't meant to replace crewed platforms completely, but rather free them up for the most critical jobs. 'Operators could go make a cup of coffee' For example, the first task it has been designed for is anti-submarine warfare in conjunction with Navy ships and helicopters out in the North Sea. This would see o ne or more Proteus drones equipped with 'sonobuoys' – highly sensitive sonar devices that listen for propeller and engine sounds underwater – drop the devices into the water to triangulate an enemy's position. The drones, potentially working with a crewed Merlin, would be capable of processing the data themselves and transmitting it back to a nearby Navy vessel. Onboard software allows them to avoid no-fly zones and oil rigs, identify commercial vessels or fishing boats, and recognise their Navy 'mothership'. They will be able to fly continuously for about 10 hours, according to Leonardo. Rather than remotely controlling them with a joystick, however, forces personnel will instead give the drones instructions – potentially using just a tablet computer – with the machine then plotting its own course and carrying out the tasks independently. This can be tricky work in harsh weather. Among other things, the robot will need to master tasks such as landing on a vessel that is pitching and heaving on the waves. The idea is to reduce the number of hours sailors spend on monotonous, time-consuming tasks. Normally, flying a Merlin helicopter from an aircraft carrier or frigate to drop sonobuoys in a nearby section of ocean can take a human crew several hours – much of which is spent uneventfully cruising over water. In future, it means someone could give Proteus a task and then leave to make themselves a cup of coffee without having to worry about constantly supervising the machine. 'We're designing it to be as autonomous as possible, so the operator really only has to intervene when they really need to,' says Phil Bartlett, head of future programmes at Leonardo UK, a subsidiary of the Italian defence giant. Bartlett's team is the company's equivalent of Q-branch, set up in 2022 to lead the Proteus programme and investigate emerging rotary wing technologies. Their demonstrator is being put together in record time under a new type of government contract designed to speed up innovation. Designs were only finalised in 2023, with the demonstrator drone now almost complete and flight tests due to commence within months. Faster development This is practically warp speed when compared to conventional military programmes. 'If you think about where we've come from, to go from a design to build in not even two years – that's a massive change to how we normally do things,' says Rob Girling, the experimental operations manager. 'These 20-year development programmes, you just can't have them any more. By the time you've finished things are already obsolete. So we've got to move quicker.' Their team is adding to a rich seam of history in Yeovil. The factory – previously known as Westland Helicopters – opened in 1915 under the Petters family and went on to make Sopwith 1½ Strutters and de Havilland 4 and 9 bombers in the First World War. During the Second World War, it was one of several factories to produce Spitfire and Seafire fighters. But since then, Yeovil has emerged as 'the home of British helicopters' producing syndicated designs such as the Dragonfly, the Sea King and the Apache as well as collaborations such as the Puma, Gazelle and Lynx. In the near future, Colman hopes the site – which employs some 3,000 workers – will make Proteus drones along with crewed AW149 battlefield helicopters. Leonardo has put forward the AW149 for the Ministry of Defence's new medium helicopter contract and is now the last bidder standing after Airbus and Sikorsky withdrew. In comparison, Proteus is for now confined to a four-year, £60m demonstrator contract awarded to Leonardo in 2022. But if successful, the aircraft could become part of a new generation of 'attritable' – low-cost and reusable – drones that the Ministry of Defence wants to rush into service, providing desperately needed ballast to Britain's armed forces at a time when Europe is rushing to re-arm. 'You're going to have more exquisite, expensive platforms that you need to protect,' explains Andy Bennett, programme manager at Leonardo. 'Then you'll have attritable platforms, which may be equipped with expensive sensor suites, and at the bottom you'll have your 'disposable' stuff. That's the model the armed forces are shifting towards. 'Proteus will sit somewhere in the attritable space, maybe towards the higher end depending on the payload it's carrying.' As has been shown by the Ukraine conflict, the lack of human occupants in drones is likely to change the way war is waged in future, Bennett says. 'You can take more risks if you're happy to sacrifice the platform, potentially in a high-risk combat environment.' Humanitarian as well as military application Leonardo is aiming to produce Proteus for a 'fraction of the cost' of a manned helicopter. But it also aims to broaden demand for the aircraft by expanding into markets beyond the military, thanks to the ability of the modular mission bay to carry all kinds of payloads. 'On the military side, there's anti-submarine warfare, sonobuoy dispensing, sonobuoy dunking, reconnaissance,' says Girling. 'But you could also expand into different markets, so carrying water to tackle forest fires, for example, or famine relief, deliveries for postal companies; it could be lots of different things.' It is still early days, however. Proteus has only carried out missions for the Royal Navy in a virtual world so far. Upstairs from Bennett's workshop, a team of software engineers run simulations using a 'digital twin' of the aircraft to test its ability to plan missions and carry them out – at least theoretically. On computer screens, they watch an imaginary Proteus drone take off from a virtual Type 23 frigate to drop sonobuoys in the ocean. The simulation is set off the coast of Norway and uses real shipping movements to make the exercise as realistic as possible. Even the bobbing of boats on the water is recreated, along with imaginary winds. If it works, Proteus should mean human crew members will be put at risk far less often. Yet despite the machine's sophistication, Colman believes human pilots will be around for a long time yet. 'I spent my life in the RAF with the pilot and myself sitting in the cockpit, flying around with dozens of troops in the back, in and out of benign and dangerous situations,' he explains. 'When I started, the autopilot was nowhere near as good as it is now, and today we could probably fly airliners without pilots but we choose not to. 'I can't imagine flying troops around without having pilots in the cockpit either. I certainly can't see a moment where we would put 25 people in the back of the aircraft and say, 'I'm going to sit this one out', you know?' It is a question that may seem abstract for now. But as Proteus shows, an army of British drones may be closer than we think.
See - Sada Elbalad
24-02-2025
- Health
- See - Sada Elbalad
Prince William to Undergo Cancer Exams, Say Reports
Rana Atef It was reported on Sunday that Prince William is set to undergo medical tests following the recent death of his former military flight instructor, Flight Sergeant Zach Stubbings. Stubbings who trained the prince at RAF Valley between 2010 and 2013 died after a fierce battle against multiple myeloma. His death has raised health risks associated the exposure to to toxic exhaust fumes from military helicopters, including the Sea King aircraft that William used during his service. The Royal Air Force (RAF) station was known for high concentrations of toxic exhaust fumes, including 7.5 micromoles of carbon monoxide per liter of air. A few studies suggested prolonged exposure to emissions could be linked to several cancers, raising concerns about the health of Prince William. The motive of driving Prince William to have these exams is related to the latest cancer diagnosis in the Royal Family.
