ABU DHABI // The UAE Navy yesterday took command of a multinational task force in the Gulf famed for its battles against terrorism and against the trafficking of people and drugs.
The Navy will be in charge of the Task Force 152 fleet that includes frigates, support ships and patrol boats from the UK, the US and GCC states, among other nations.
The Navy, which is headed by Rear Admiral Ahmed al Tunaiji, will lead the force for the next three months, taking command from the British.
The command is possibly the biggest undertaking in the UAE Navy's history in terms of the body of water covered and the diversity of personnel manning the fleet. Ships and men also come from Australia as well as Asian countries including Japan and South Korea.
The task force, founded in 2004, is part of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a coalition of 24 countries that conduct operations over a 2.4-million-square-mile expanse of water that includes, besides the Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
The CMF has two other forces. One, code-named CTF150, is a counter-terrorism force operating in the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and in areas as far as the Seychelles. The other, CTF151, is mainly focused on countering Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
"We know that a lot of the narcotics that come out of Afghanistan - transit into the Gulf and also transit down further out into the Indian Ocean," said Commodore Tim Lowe, the deputy commander of the CMF and the UK Maritime Component Command (UKMCC) in Bahrain.
"So, by intercepting that activity we are directly hitting one of the funding streams for the terrorists. With the human-smuggling side, we are conscious that there may be terrorists moving as part of that grouping as well, so we're constantly on the lookout for that sort of activity."
Taking command of the force means the UAE Navy's officers will oversee such missions on a daily basis.
Among the vessels that fall under their command is the UK frigate HMS Monmouth, which is the seventh ship to take this name; the first was an eight-gun yacht built in 1666; the sixth was an armoured cruiser that was sunk in 1914, during the First World War.
Commodore Lowe, who handed over command to the UAE at a ceremony at Abu Dhabi's naval operations centre yesterday, said having such a force in the Gulf was vital.
"The Gulf area is a very complex," he said. "Lots of potentially illegal maritime activity, a lot of maritime infrastructure oil wells, gas heads, water [and] being an absolute critical area, of course."
"In case of terrorist attack or environmental disaster [the region] will need protection and, therefore, CTF152 is focused on creating a coherent grouping of nations that could work together in case crisis occurs - and that crisis could be anything."
The force has been commanded for the past five years either from sea or from Bahrain.
Among the nations that have taken command are the US, the UK, Italy and Bahrain, which was in command during the summer of last year.
Commodore Lowe said that the CMF left it to its member navies to decide whether they wanted to take part in taking command.
"One of my key roles - is to help [GCC navies] build their command-and-control capabilities," he added.
He said that since the UAE navy is less than four decades old, "looking to command a multinational task force is a quite a big thing".
The UAE command will be focused on its territorial waters but "is also looking all the way up to the northern Gulf; to Iraqi and Kuwaiti territorial waters and then all the way out to the Strait of Hormuz".
The UAE has regularly contributed one patrol boat to the CMF command, according to Commodore Lowe.
For specific exercises, the UAE had provided larger ships as well as helicopters.
Commodore Lowe also said he felt "a great sense of pride for the UAE, for the UK and the Combined Maritime Forces and for the US in that we've helped work together, we supported it and we deliver this change of command".
mhabboush@thenational.ae
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
'Midnights'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Taylor%20Swift%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Republic%20Records%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Results:
5pm: Handicap (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600 metres
Winner: Dasan Da, Saeed Al Mazrooei (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Saabah, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Mukaram, Pat Cosgrave, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: MH Tawag, Richard Mullen, Elise Jeanne
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) | Dh70,000 | 1,400m
Winner: RB Inferno, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Juthoor, Jim Crowley, Erwan Charpy
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.