This past June Germany transferred the retired 100-ton navy patrol boat Bergen to the Republic of Lebanon on board the heavy lift transport MV Atlant Trina. The ex-Bergen, which has been renamed Tabarja, is the third vessel handed over by Germany to Lebanon since 2007. The 28.7-meter patrol boat previously operated as a Type 905 range safety craft and was often deployed by German forces to the Baltic Sea region where she assisted with naval training exercises. The transfer of these vessels is part of a larger United Nations effort to train, rebuild, and re-construct Lebanese maritime forces to prevent terrorism and smuggling of illegal weapons into the country. The two previously transferred vessels, the ex-Bremen 2 and ex-Bremen 9 did not come from the navy, but were instead retired German police boats that have since been renamed Amchit and Naqoura, respectively, in Lebanese service.
The Military Sealift Command on 12 June retired the namesake of the Powhatan-class of fleet ocean tugboats, USNS Powhatan (T-ATF-166), and transferred the 2,260-ton (full load) displacement tug to Turkey where she has been renamed Inebolu and renumbered A-590. The Powhatan-class initially consisted of seven ships, all of which entered service between 1979 and 1981. Two of Powhatan's sisters have been retired from active service, leaving four tugs, the Catawba (T-ATF-168), Navajo (T-ATF-169), Sioux (T-ATF-171), and Apache (T-ATF-172), currently operating with the Military Sealift Command. Although nearing 30 years old, the class is considered relatively young by international fleet tug standards. These large 73-meter vessels can be used for salvage, rescue, environmental, and firefighting operations in addition to their more typical tasks towing ships, barges, and targets.
A rare event recently took place that highlighted improving relations between Japan and China as the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces' destroyer Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to visit China since the end of World War II. Docking at Zhanjiang for five days in June, the Japanese warship and her 240-member crew delivered several hundred blankets and more then 2,500 emergency aid rations to help victims of the recent Sichuan province earthquakes. While in port, the Japanese warship attracted some 1,000 local visitors. The destroyer's visit follows the four-day November 2007 visit to Japan by the Chinese Luhai-class destroyer, Shenzhen. Japan's Sazanami entered service in 2005 and is one of a five-ship class built in Yokosuka and Nagasaki. Sister ship Makinami is pictured here. The Sazanami was named for a World War II destroyer sunk in January 1944 by the submarine USS Albacore (SS-218).