Maritime Awards Society of Canada

Registration for Maritime Security Challenges Conference 2010 is now underway!

MSC 2010, the 4th iteration in the successful MSC conference series, will take place in Victoria BC, from April 26-29th and promises to be a stimulating event with international participation and timely panel discussions including:

• Maritime Piracy
• Port Security
• New Naval Technologies
• Littoral and Riverine Operations
• Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief

With the conference less than a month away, we encourage you to register now to secure your place at this premier maritime security event.

More information, including the full conference programme and registration details, can be found online.

We look forward to seeing you in April!

Office of the Asia-Pacific Advisor Maritime Forces Pacific

Ottawa Citizen, 26 November 2009 – Last Thursday, the Department of National Defence announced that a CAD $900,000 design contract for a Canadian Forces naval base at Nanisivik in Nunavut was awarded to Vancouver firm WorleyParsons Westmar, but the complex is predicted to be operational by 2014, not 2012 as previously estimated.  Initial site studies for the Nanisivik Naval Facility (NNF) have been completed, and construction could begin in 2011, but the project is likely to slip further behind schedule with logistical and environmental challenges.  NNF, which is projected to cost $100m, is designed to act as a staging base for vessels operating in the high Arctic, and the Associate Deputy Minister of Defence has said that the US and other Canadian allies could be granted access to the facility.

(Courtesy “Daily Intelligence Brief”. World Naval Edition, December 2 2009. Office of the Asia-Pacific Advisor, Maritime Forces Pacific, Canadian Navy)

U.S. Navy researchers are developing an autonomous submarine that gathers military intelligence information in coastal waters and harbors by deploying and operating small unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) as a distributed, collaborative suite of electronic sensors.

The Manta UUV, shown above, was developed by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center as a potential UUV mothership

(more…)

Northern Watch, a 2008 programme that uses surveillance devices to monitor movement through the Northwest Passage, has resumed after being delayed by logistical difficulties.  A primary difficulty for defence scientists is the reconstruction of a base camp on Devon Island, northwest of Baffin Island, which is in disrepair, the location of a new, safer route to a remote lookout site, and the establishment of emergency protocols.  Despite logistical difficulties, sensors were installed in the Barrow Strait and were able to relay information for four weeks this summer, and the Northern Watch team will return to the area next summer to establish a full network that can operate year-round.  Northern Watch was stood up to provide a cost-effective means of monitoring the Northwest Passage and providing situational awareness.

(Courtesy “Daily Intelligence Brief”. World Naval Edition, November 4 2009. Office of the Asia-Pacific Advisor, Maritime Forces Pacific, Canadian Navy)

Marine Affairs Program
Centre for Foreign Policy Studies
Marine & Environmental Law Institute

Present a Joint Seminar

Pakistan’s Role in Combating Maritime Terrorism and Piracy

Vice Admiral (R) Mohammad Haroon
Rector of Bahria University, Pakistan

Wednesday, November 4, 2009   1:00-2:30 PM
Room 3089
Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building
6100 University Avenue
Dalhousie University Campus
Halifax, NS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Becky Field
Administrator
Marine Affairs Program
Dalhousie University
marineaffairsprogram.dal.ca
marine.affairs@dal.ca

‘Hard-sell’ navy targets lagging military profile
Ottawa Citizen, 14 October 2009

Chief of Maritime Staff Vice-Admiral McFadden has said that the Navy has reached bottom in terms of its recruiting and retention problems, and that he is cautiously optimistic that new initiatives will replenish thinning ranks.  The Navy currently has 7,900 full-time and 3,345 reservist personnel, though it faces a shortfall of around 1,000 full-time sailors by 2011.  Reasons cited for this looming gap include recruiting centres’ focus on the Army because of the mission in Afghanistan, attrition rates higher than the other two military branches, and a lack of awareness of the Navy, particularly in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.  New recruiting incentives to address the problem include subsidized education, which may have accounted for a recruiting increase in September, though it is too early to tell if such momentum can be sustained.  Other Western navies face similar problems to the Canadian Navy’s; the Royal Australian Navy has insufficient numbers to man its six Collins-class submarines, while many existing submariners are counting the days until their term of service expires.

(Courtesy “Daily Intelligence Brief”. World Naval Edition, October 21 2009. Office of the Asia-Pacific Advisor, Maritime Forces Pacific, Canadian Navy)

Western Pacific Naval Symposium –

Maritime Security Challenges Seminar 2010

Sunday 25 April – Saturday 2 May 2010 – Victoria, Canada

Programme and registration information will follow shortly. For more info, contact: marpac.wpns@forces.gc.ca

(more…)