Latest news with #navalbase
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Depot at Devonport naval base must operate with reduced hours
A storage depot that serves Devonport naval base has been given permission to continue for another five years but with fewer operating hours to reduce noise for Wharf Ltd applied to Plymouth City Council for the permanent use of the compound at Keyham Road as the HQ for the marine division of Denholm Industrial planners held off granting this until the site's appearance is improved. They also imposed new operating hours, ending at 19:00 instead of 21:00 on weekdays and exclude work on Sundays and Bank Holidays.A planning consultant for the applicant said permanent consent would provide a "multitude of planning benefits" for employees and the dockyard. Objections to the plans also included concerns over noise, vibration, light and dust. Some residents referred to shot-blasting that has taken place within an industrial unit constructed on the site, which was in breach of the original planning consent, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) of the council's planning committee were told that enforcement action was being looked into to address these officers said they saw merit in allowing the storage and distribution operation to continue to avoid adverse impacts on the dockyard and marine and defence sectors. 'Respect the area' Resident Mr McCarthy said the firm had operated outside the hours it had given on its website and claimed there was shot-blasting on a daily basis for several hours plus "hammering and needlegunning"."We deserve an environment where we can live in relative peace and quiet and the chance to bring families up to respect the area in which they live," he said."If this site is allowed to continue in its current form and especially if Denholm are allowed to expand their operations and business hours to seven days a week, 12 hours plus a day, including bank holidays, it will have a massive effect on our community." Planning consultant Elizabeth Bricknell, acting on behalf of the applicant and site operator, said it had a long history of industrial uses and 150 people were now employed said residents' concerns over noise, vibration and dust had been heard "loud and clear", and they were being addressed along with reduced hours of operation.
Bloomberg
18-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Cerberus to Expand Subic Bay Business as US Interest in Former Naval Base Grows
Cerberus Capital Management plans to expand its operations in Subic Bay in the Philippines, as the US renews interest in its former naval base, which is being considered as a regional ammunition production hub. The US investment firm is looking to lease around 200 hectares (494 acres) near a 310-hectare former shipyard it took over in 2022, according to a senior official at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, which manages the freeport zone.
Telegraph
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Queen's 78th birthday cling film gift from submariners
The Queen has been given an engraved cling film holder as a birthday present on a visit to Devonport naval base, marking an inside joke between her and the crew of the nuclear sub HMS Astute. Queen Camilla visited the base in Plymouth on Wednesday, the eve of her 78th birthday, and the crew came up with the novel gift idea to carry on a joke she first shared with them two years ago. Her Majesty, the Lady Sponsor of the submarine since 2007, had been amused then to learn that cling film had been used to keep the £1.65bn Astute afloat in an emergency incident. On Wednesday, she exclaimed: 'Oh my goodness, the famous cling film!' when she was given the present by Cdr Christopher Bate, the commanding officer of HMS Astute. In her role as Lady Sponsor of the sub, Camilla has been kept informed of operational debriefs and deployments as well as the occasional malfunction on board. She was said to have learnt of the deployment of cling film from her staff. Cdr Bates explained: 'We had a defect on board and we were losing vacuum in the main engines. The engineers said we could either come back to port to fix it or use something on board. So they used cling film from the galley. '[They] wrapped it in the engines and stopped air getting into it and reducing the vacuum, and therefore restored propulsion at sea. 'And it's been on there for the last two and a half years, because it's such a big job to change the seals … Her Majesty found it quite amusing when she found out.' The Queen, who also mentioned the incident in her speech to the ship's company at a garden party on Wednesday, laughed when she was presented with the dispenser: 'Oh brilliant. How lovely, thank you very much.' She said in her speech: 'Within this ship's company, those extraordinary endeavours range from the innovation of one petty officer…through to the resourceful solution to maintain a vacuum, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, with cling film! 'I can only imagine what the unofficial toolkit in a submarine might look like.' Cdr Bate said he hoped the dispenser, bearing a gold plaque that states 'Clingfilm, keeping Nuclear Submarines at Sea,' would act as a 'talking piece in her house'. 'She was very pleased,' he added. The Queen, who was appointed as the first female Vice Admiral of the UK on Wednesday morning during her visit to the naval base, spent part of the day in Plymouth touring HMS Astute and meeting submariners. She also visited the Children's Hospice South West in Barnstaple, of which she is patron, to celebrate its 30th anniversary. It emerged that another defect she had been made aware of as Lady Sponsor of HMS Astute was less severe, but she had acted nonetheless. Following a freezer malfunction on board, she sent the crew tea and biscuits to tide them over after their frozen food went bad. Speaking about her involvement with the submarine, Cdr Bate said she had been 'a really good supporter since day one' and wrote to the boat regularly. 'We lost a member of the ship's company two a half years ago, which was quite difficult, and she was very supportive – writing to the submarine and to his parents,' he said. 'She's been a great supporter throughout and is genuinely interested about what we get up to at sea.' Regular letters and Christmas cards Chief Petty Officer Paddy Ashdown, who has been on HMS Astute since its inception and met the Queen during Wednesday's visit, said: 'She keeps sending letters and Christmas cards out to the boat.' Michael Pearson, a tactical submariner, added: 'She always writes to us wishing us good luck for our coming deployments. 'It's really nice having someone that high up in the royal family as our Lady Sponsor.' The submarine was named by Her Majesty, then Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007 and is the lead sub in the Royal Navy's fleet of Ship Submerged Nuclear (SSN) or 'attack' submarines. The price tag for the fleet of seven nuclear-powered Astute-class attack subs has soared by £1bn over the past year and has taken the entire programme costs to more than £12bn. Wednesday's garden party for the crew marked the end of the Astute's first commission. Cdr Bate explained that the submarine is now entering a Mid Life Revalidation Programme, which will include a refit – presumably ridding its engines of cling film – before beginning a second commission. 'She's into her mid-life refit now, so probably for the next five years, she'll be in Devonport, and she should come out pretty much brand new,' he said.
Washington Post
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump plans to send migrants to ‘third countries.' Others have tried that.
The Trump administration's plan to deport people to countries where they are not citizens represents a sharp change for the United States, where such expulsions have been rare. But other countries have tried similar policies. The United States deported eight men who arrived in South Sudan this month — via Djibouti, where they were held for weeks in a metal shipping container at a naval base. All but one of the migrants had no connection to South Sudan.
Al Arabiya
26-06-2025
- Al Arabiya
Two Chinese men arrested in South Korea filming US carrier
Two Chinese nationals have been arrested for illegally flying drones to film a South Korean naval base and a visiting US aircraft carrier docked in the port city of Busan, local police said Thursday. South Korea finds itself in the middle of a growing superpower standoff between the United States, its traditional security guarantor, and China, its largest trade partner but also a key ally of North Korea. The two men - identified as international students in Busan - were arrested on Wednesday, charged with injuring the military interests of South Korea and violating the Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act, according to the Busan Metropolitan Police. It is the first time foreign nationals have been detained on such charges, they said. 'Two Chinese individuals were arrested yesterday for illegally filming a naval base and a US aircraft carrier,' an official from the Busan police told AFP. 'A third Chinese individual is also currently being investigated without detention,' he added. South Korean police believe the detained suspects -- one in his 40s and the other in his 30s -- used drones and mobile phones to illegally film the Republic of Korea Fleet Command in Busan, which is responsible for and oversees the South Korean navy's operation and training. They are also accused of illicitly filming the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a US aircraft carrier docked in the port city for joint operations, and of conducting unauthorized filming on nine occasions between March 2023 and June 2024. Their most recent activity took place on June 25, 2024, when then-president Yoon Suk Yeol visited the aircraft carrier and met with South Korean and US troops, according to Busan police. The illegally obtained materials reportedly included 172 photos and 22 video files, some of which were sahred without authorization on social media platforms including TikTok. Busan police also said the suspects used drones manufactured by a Chinese company. The model in question reportedly requires users to register through the company's app before use, during which all data is believed to be transmitted to servers located in China. Last month, South Korea fined Chinese e-commerce giant Temu nearly $1 million for illegally transferring Korean users' personal information to China and other countries.
