Global Conflict Reporting

Tag: Maritime

  • Massive explosion destroyed a large portion of Iranian port.

    Massive explosion destroyed a large portion of Iranian port.

    By. Scott Jackson

    April 26th, 2025

    Five were killed and a staggering 700 injured in an explosion at the port in Bandar Abbas in southwest Iran. Video was taken of the fire directly before the explosion that destroyed part of the Shahid Rajaee port. The government has said the explosion is linked to chemicals that were being stored at a facility there. The cause of the fire is unknown but the fire quickly grew and ignited something which caused the blast.

    Locals report the blast destroying buildings in the immediate area and blew out windows and roofs further away. Others report feeling the blast up to 30 miles away.

    Video of the fire that led to the explosion. The explosion itself is only heard in this video but it gives the impression that this was large.

    A video of the aftermath shows how powerful this blast was and puts you into the shoes of the people who crawled from the wreckage directly after. Windows would have been turned into claymores spraying glass fragments at the speed of sound, wood and bricks and metals would have been turned into supersonic projectiles.

    Video of the aftermath. From Tasnim news.

    We also have another video shot from a news helicopter afterwords that gives us a better view of the location which is actually at a cargo holding area about a mile from the actual port.

    Video shot from a news helicopter showing black smoke climbing into the sky from the site of the disaster.

    From this footage the geolocation of the site is fairly standard and only took a couple minutes. The exact site of the fire that caused the blast is 27.125056°N 56.066710°E, which I’ve included a picture of . The area seems to be a long term storage area for cargo that won’t be moving for a while.

    Overview of the entire area.
    Zoomed into the site.

    A spokesperson for the Iranian government said that an investigation into the cause of the blast would take some time to complete but that it seemed that the cause was not malicious.

    “but so far what has been determined is that containers were stored in a corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded. But until the fire is extinguished, it’s hard to ascertain the cause.”

    Fatemeh Mohajerani, an Iranian goverment spokeswomen.

    So far, some of the area affected remains on fire. The Iranian state has announced a state of emergency in the Hormozgan province, as chemicals in the air could be harmful to those living in the area.

    Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, said the country’s interior minister was heading to the region to oversee the situation. He also expressed “deep sorrow and sympathy” for the disaster.

    The port at Bandar Abbas is located on the Strait of Hormuz, a busy and strategic location that sees a good percentage of the worlds oil and natural gas shipments. 

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve. 

    -Scott 

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  • U.S. strikes at important Houthi Oil Port

    By.Scott Jackson

    April 21st, 2025

    On Friday, the US stuck at an the oil port at Ras Isa in one of the largest attacks in the group since the current U.S. administration launched its strikes.

    Satellite images released afterwords show the extent of the damage.
    I screenshot from a news report on the strike.

    From CENTCOM:

    “U.S. forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years.”

    The strike destroyed several oil storage tanks as well as a number of oil transport trucks. Also destroyed was the equipment to load and unload oil into ships.

    Images showing the aftermath of the attack.

    The Houthis claim the strike killed 74 people and injured another 171 others. They aired footage afterwords on their al-Masirah satellite news channel of the site showing blown up trucks and corpses strewn about the area. The Houthi denounced the strike as a “completely unjustified aggression.”

    CENTCOM declined to answer specific questions on civilian casualties however said that  “this strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.”

    This strike will likely have far reaching consequences for the Houthi as well as the people of Yemen. The U.S. is looking at this strike as a message to those who continue to supply the Houthis even through the sanctions. Iran is the biggest supporter of the group, however they also have done business with China and Russia.

    The Ras Isa port was an important economic point for the country (as well as the Houthi group). The port is located in the Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea and is just off Kamaran Island which has seen heavy U.S. strikes in recent days.

    Image from @Tankertrackers showing the site.

    Twitter group @TankerTrackers has recently reported that vessels that were in the port at the time have been held under threat of violence from the Houthis who demand they not leave without unloading their cargo. They also note that the GALAXY LEADER (9237307) vessel is still being held in the port. The cargo vessel was hijacked on November 19, 2023. 

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve.  

    -Scott

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  • US Navy releases a rare image of one of its least photographed ships.

    US Navy releases a rare image of one of its least photographed ships.

    By Scott Jackson

    04/11/2025

    Today the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet released several images showing the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) on their final deployments before her planned 2026/2027 decommissioning.

    However, while the Nimitz is a good looking ship the rare part was one of its escorts in Carrier Strike Group 11 (CSG 11). Included in the pictures was USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001). One of only three commissioned Zumwalt-Class Stealth Missile Destroyer.

    The Zumwalt-class Michael Monsoor, along with the Nimitz and the rest of CSG 11 are currently on deployment in the Pacific Ocean region.

    Also included in the image are Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyers; USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG l54), USS Gridley (DDG 101), and USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) And U.S. Navy Replenishment Tanker, USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205).

    To the future… and beyond.

    The Zumwalt class was originally designed with littoral operations in mind and they were given a pair of Advanced Gun System (AGS) for their main guns. The AGS was designed for shore bombardment fire missions in support of ground operations however the ammo was very expensive (estimated at $800,000 to $1,000,000 per round in 2016) and only one ammo type was designed so now the gun has no ammo and the weapons is useless. The navy will eventually replace the guns with other systems like large Vertical Launch Cells for the navy’s hypersonic missile currently being tested by the USS Zumwalt. The AGS was designed around the time of the battleships being decommissioned. The navy was nervous about giving up its ability to carry out shore bombardment so the AGS was designed. The now canceled round that would have been fired by the AGS is the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) a rocket assisted precision GPS guided 155mm high explosive warhead that could fire 100 nautical miles.

    USS Michael Monsoor.

    Zumwalt’s odd shape came from the SC-21 (Surface Combatant for the 21st Century) research and development program started back in 1994. The program came up with many interesting designs such as the DD-21 or the destroyer for the 21st century, which has the distinctive hull now used by the Zumwalt class.

    I see a bit of inspiration from the French La Fayette-class stealth frigate in both ships.

    Concept art for the DD-21. The ship was thought up as a capable land, air and sea attack ship for the 21st century. This design went on to inspire the Zumwalt class. .

    Aside from the DD-21 the SC-21 had several other interesting ideas I found in my research. One was called an arsenal ship. A massive floating missile platform with as many as 500 VLS cells loaded with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The ship was to be controlled by either a small crew or remotely piloted by crew members on one of the other ship. Todays navy thinking would have an aegis equipped cruiser other ship manually controlling this ship or possible one of the AWACS or AEW planes.

    Concept art for the Arsenal ship.

    The role this arsenal ship would have played is largely filled by the U.S. submarine fleet at the moment as the four oldest of the ballistic missile SSBN subs have been converted to the SSGN configuration. This change took the Trident missile cells and changed them out their nuclear payload for smaller but more numerous cruise missiles.

    Tomahawk test-fire from USS Florida. 2008.

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    -Scott

  • Yemen and Iran vow to escalate after U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.

    Yemen and Iran vow to escalate after U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.

    By. Scott Jackson

    March 16, 2025

    Last night the U.S. launched a wave of airstrikes across Houthi controlled territory in Yemen. Videos released by US Central Command social media showed F/A-18 Super Hornets launched from the USS Harry S. Truman carrying a number of munitions, mostly Joint Standoff Weapons or JSOW’s, a glide bomb capable of being launched outside of the range of standard air defenses. Also involved in the attack on Houthi positions was the USS Gettysburg (CG-64), a Ticonderoga-Class Guided missile cruiser and apart of the USS Harry S Truman Carrier Strike Group. An unidentified destroyer also took part in the attack.

    The Houthis, showing solidarity with Hamas during their war with Israel started attacking any shipping in the Red Sea with connections to the US, Israel or their allies. While the U.S. navy was sent to defend Freedom of Navigation in the Red Sea, two ships were sunk and more received damage with over a hundred ships being targeted. Hundreds of drones and missiles were shot down and 2 sailers were killed. These attacks stopped once the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has been signed but the Houthis threatened to start again, earlier this week.

    Video shows the USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and an unidentified Arleigh Burke Guided Missile Destroyer launching a TLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile) during last nights attack. Right now there are 3 Arleigh Burke’s in the CENTCOM area and it could be any of the 3. The USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), the USS Stout (DDG-55), and the USS Sullivan (DDG-68).

    The U.S. and UK previously struck Yemen during the last U.S. administration, however this strike was carried out by the U.S. military alone. It is the Trump Administrations first strike against the Houthis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made sure to point out that these strikes were not one off retaliation strikes as carried out by the last administration.

    We’re not going to have these people controlling which ships can go through and which ones cannot, and so your question is, How long will this go on? It will go on until they no longer have the capacity to do that.

    Secretaey of State Marco Rubio.

    Video shows a strike on a target in Houthi territory.

    Last nights attacks were reported to have struck neighborhoods in Sanaa’s northern Shouab district and at least 4 strikes on the Eastern Geraf neighborhood that holds the Houthi headquarters for its political bureau as well as other military facilities.

    Other strikes were reported in the southwestern Dhamar providence and the capital of the area, also called Dhamar. No specific target is known in that region.

    Irans response to the strikes was a statement from foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who posted on Twitter and urged the U.S. tj stop its airstrikes, and said that Washington could not dictate Iran’s foreign policy. An Iranian General, Hossein Salami denied that Iran was backing the rebel group. Iranian weapons shipments have been coming into Yemen for sometime, the Houthis would not survive without financial and military help from Iran.

    After reaching out to The Navy as well as CENTCOM’s press office the only response I received so far was from the navy who referred me to several social media post and directed me to contact CENTCOM, who has yet to respond to my inquiries. This was the response even the larger media company’s were receiving so no surprise there. Mainly I’m interested in post strike assessment as well as what was targeted specifically. I assume missile and drone production and storage but there is really no way to know as the Houthis aren’t saying. When I know more, so will you.

  • Video shows Chinese invasion ship’s in action for the first time.

    By. Scott Jackson

    Match 13, 2024
    A video, taken by Chinese beach goers shows one of Chinas new invasion ships.

    Several weeks ago, satellite imagery was taken of a number of Chinese PLA Navy harbor ships being in various states of being built and near complete. These ships have large bridges that can be deployed from the front as well as a system for raising the ships out of the rough waters making loading and unloading of equipment quick.

    This image released by Allsource analysis shows the shipyard where the harbor ships are being built. 4 are shown here with more being expected to be built.
    Image from Navel News shows a diagram of how the ships operate. The “Mulberry harbor” pulls up to the beach and deploys its stabilizers and bridge, other ships holding troops and vehicles pull up to the rear of the ship and unload straight through to the beach.

    These ships would allow China’s Navy to attempt to quickly land a sizable ground force at whatever point of an island as they wanted to. In a Taiwan invasion scenario these could be used to overwhelm defenders by spreading out the insertion points all across the island. China would also be able to quickly deploy such a large ground force that the U.S. would have little hope of managing to get them all off of the island without a long,drown-out confrontation that even if they could carry out would leave much of the island in ruin.

    There is little to these ships making the build time very quick.

    I reached out to PACOM but I’m still waiting on a statement. I’ll update if I get a response.

    Most amateur analysts seem to believe that these ships would make easy targets and wouldn’t last more than a few minutes under fire. However. These ships are ment to be deployed into any sort of direct combat, and would also have the cover of the missile defense of the Chinese PLA Navy. These ships would be deployed after the bulk of any resistance was taken care of.

  • Cargo vessel collided with a Tanker in the North Sea.

    By.Scott jackson

    March 10, 2025

    U.S. flagged tanker M/V Stena Immaculate, which had been chartered out by U.S. military Sealift command to carry around 220,000 barrels of Jet fuel for the U.S. military according to a spokesperson for the command. The ship was at anchor off the coast of England near Hull and Leeds when a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong collided with the tanker. The incident sparked a massive fire in both ships as the Jet A1 fuel carried by Stena Immaculate ignited. Maritime tracking data confirms that the Solong failed to slow down or maneuver before the impact. An investigation will reveal more details but will take days or weeks to complete.

    Photo from nearby as fire tugs attempt to fight the blaze from the Jet fuel.

    A distress call was made by crew from the Stena Immaculate explaining what had happed and asking for ships with fire fighting equipment for assistance. The call also warned that the crew was evacuating. As of the last update from the scene 39 crew from the ships had been rescued, with most being hospitalized, all but one have since been released.

    A look at the final position of both ships from Maritime Traffic data.

    While jet fuel leaking into the coast of England and the North Sea might seem like a big deal(and it is) jet fuel will evaporate quickly and what doesn’t will be degraded rather quickly. The other problem is the cargo being carried by the Solong. Sodium Cyanide also known as cyanide salt has several industrial uses like extracting gold and metal from ores and being used in fumigation of ships and warehouses. However it’s highly toxic to animals and humans and can cause death rapidly.

    Data showing the hours leading up to and the accident as well as the accident on maritime traffic.
  • Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a vessel at the Egyptian port of Said.

    Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a vessel at the Egyptian port of Said.

    By:Scott Jackson

    February 13th,2025
    USS Harry S. Truman.

    Yesterday at around 11:46pm local time the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) collided with the M/V Besiktas-M, a merchant vessel at the Egyptian port of Said near the mouth of the Suez Canal.

    Position of the ships at the time of writing. (2:25PMEST) Both ships seems to be moving under their own power. Highlighted vessel is the Truman, the other goverment vessel shown to the south of it is the Guided Missile Destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) a part of its Strike Group.

    Statements from navy officials say that no flooding occurred because of the collision and that the Truman was undamaged and her nuclear power plant was safe and secure. The status of the Besiktas-M is unknown at this time.

    M/V Besiktas-M

    The Truman was most recently deployed to the Red Sea and Mediterranean to combat the threat from Iranian backed Houthis in Western Yemen, as well as projecting power in the region and supporting other US and allied forces in the area. Recent Iranian actions have made maintaining a force in the Middle East increasing only important.

    The Truman will likely continue or already has continued on its journey back to the Red Sea area. It was returning from a port call in Souda Bay, Crete Greece. NSA Souda Bay provides logistical and operational support to the components of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group

    BWhile it might seem absurd to think a merchant vessel could get close enough to a carrier to collide with it in the first place because of the almost absurd amount of security around a U.S. Aircraft Carrier. However, in a restricted space such as close to the Suez Canal there isn’t room for everybody to maintain a distance from the carrier strike group and from how I understand it, all anybody can do is follow the international maritime “rules of the road” which have no requirements that merchant vessels make way for a carrier. All the U.S. can legally do is ask them to keep their distance. That’s how I understand it but if I’m wrong I welcome corrections.

    Update

    (5:00PM EST)

    Some more info has come on the merchant ship Besiktas-M. It is a Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo ship. The ship has been heading north through the Suez canal heading to its destination states as being Constanta in Romania on the Black Sea. The Truman was heading south at the time when the mishap took place. The bulk carrier is said to have moderate damage above the waterline but continued under its own power.