October 7, 2016
Construction activity at Brazil’s Itaguaí nuclear submarine shipyard continues to show signs of slowing, a review of recent satellite imagery suggests. Initially, Brazil was to have its naval shipyard and co-located submarine base ready to start initial vessel construction by 2016. As we moved along the project timeline, the country’s economic troubles and scandals made…
September 21, 2016
An update for Iran’s southern shipyards couldn’t come at a better time. Last week, Iran unveiled the Shahid Nazeri, a high-speed catamaran helicopter carrier. Space photography available in Google Earth (28°58’33,96″N 50°51’22,68″E) shows the first signs of the new vessel’s construction back in November 2014. At the time, imagery captured the boat’s hulls protruding from…
August 23, 2016
The latest commercial satellite imagery shows some new developments at Iran’s ISOICO shipyard near Bostanu. In June, the Kilo-class attack submarine and the Kharg (431) replenishment ship departed the shipyard and relocated back to Bander Abbas naval base. The vessels have been located at the shipyard since October 2015 and November 2014, respectively. While the…
November 13, 2015
Previously, I wrote about Iran’s construction of the Sorocaima for Venezuela’s PDVSA in what was supposed to be a four tanker deal. Despite Iranian news stories to the contrary, the vessel was never delivered, largely due to Venezuela’s mismanagement of the economy. It also seems apparent that Iran’s burgeoning strategic relationship with the country was…
November 1, 2015
Digital Globe imagery dated September 14, 2015 on left / April 28, 2015 right The latest commercial satellite imagery shows some new developments at Iran’s ISOICO shipyard near Bostanu. In September, the yard made further progress on the country’s soon-to-be largest dry dock. Imagery shows that shipyard workers had moved the dock’s caisson in place…
June 13, 2015
US interests in the Caspian Sea are part of the larger framework of US geo-strategic interests in the Eurasian region. US proxies such as Israel provide support, technical advice and military equipment to the Azerbaijani navy. Both US and Israeli interests against Iranian and Russian influence in the Caspian Sea have aided Azerbaijan in its…
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