German warship to take part in naval exercise

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16: The German frigate FGS Hamburg paid a flying visit to Bermuda this week on her way to the US.

The warship is due join forces with the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman and other naval vessels form around the world at the Norfolk Naval Base on the East Coast.

The ships will form the ‘Aircraft Carrier Association’ and carry out a three-week programme of manoevres before they are deployed to the Mediterranean next month.

Hamburg is then set to then play an integral role in a series of joint exercises in the Arabian Sea.

The state-of-the-art vessel arrived in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon from her homeport of Wilhemshaven.

She then moved up to Dockyard on Monday for a short spell before leaving the island bound for Norfolk yesterday.

Hamburg is part of the three-strong ‘Sachsen class’ of highly advanced German air-defence frigates and was launched in 2002.

The warship is expected to return home again to Germany on June 28.

Meanwhile, a series of unrelated delays affected a string of other vessels that were due to arrive in Bermuda last week.

As a result, the tanker MT Bull came into the Oil Docks off St George’s on Monday, and shifted up to Dockyard to deliver fuel yesterday.

She is expected to leave the island today.

The tall ship Christian Radich came into Penno’s Wharf in St George’s a little late on Monday morning and was scheduled to leave Bermuda bound for the Azores yesterday.

The MT Antarctic is now due to reach Five Fathom Hole today and take on board an extra four members of crew before she continues her journey towards Russia.

The cable ship, Wave Sentinel, which called into Bermuda for repair work after sustaining damage at sea, is now expected to depart from the Commercial Dock in Dockyard tomorrow.

And finally, the Somers Isles gets into Hamilton today as she temporarily takes over from the Bermuda Islander, which is currently undergoing routine maintenance in New Jersey.