The New York City Fire Department took delivery of its newest fireboat, the Three Forty Three, on 26 May. Funded largely by federal homeland-security grant dollars, the boat is named in honor of the 343 New York City firefighters killed in the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. The Three Forty Three is one of the most advanced fireboats ever to see service, and like the amphibious assault ship USS New York (LPD-21), the Three Forty Three's 140-foot hull contains steel salvaged from the remains of the Twin Towers. With a top speed of 18 knots, the 500-ton firefighting vessel is twice as fast as her predecessors. Able to pump 50,000 gallons of water per minute, the city's newest fireboat has a complement of seven crew members who, through the use of advanced sensors, are able detect chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents, and are protected against these hazards through the use of pressurization and filtration systems that supply oxygen using special charcoal and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters. The Three Forty Three's state-of-the-art equipment suite also includes night vision, heat-sensing cameras, and advanced communication equipment. A sister ship, the Firefighter II, is undergoing sea trials in Panama City, Florida.
In May the Vietnamese Navy inked a deal with Viking Air of British Columbia, Canada, to purchase six DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft for maritime patrol, transport, and support operations. The sale marks the first acquisition of Western-built aircraft by the Vietnamese Navy and also the formation of Vietnam's first fixed-wing naval aviation wing. Delivery of the aircraft will take place between 2012 and 2014. All six aircraft are to be fitted for amphibious operations, with three of the units modified specifically for maritime patrol duties. The purchase of these aircraft, along with other acquisition programs, highlights the significant steps Vietnam has begun taking to modernize its fleet and protect its 2,100-mile coastline.
In April Ukraine's newly elected President Viktor Yanukovich made a major policy reversal by extending Russia's lease to use the Sevastopol naval base for an additional 25 years. The current leasing agreement, maintaining a Russian presence in the Crimea since Tsarist times, had been expected to expire in 2017. Previous Kiev governments, weary of Russian influence, had been reluctant to keep such a significant Russian naval base on Ukrainian soil. Now that an agreement has been reached allowing Russia continued use of the Sevastopol base, the future of other naval-base options in the Black Sea region remains uncertain. The Russian Navy had been in the process of building a likely replacement naval base at Novorossiysk, although that base is not expected to be ready until 2020, a full three years after the Sevastopol agreement was to have expired. In 2009 Russia also began building a new naval base in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. Media reports stated that by the end of 2009 ten Russian Federal Border Guard ships were operating from the new Abkhazia facility.