F132 Black Sea will be the first of the 4 Caspian Sea frigates to be updated to Barents Sea standard (the 4 surviving Terran Sea As will be converted to Terran Sea B). The conversion has begun a month early as Black Sea was damaged in an ion storm near Sigma Alpha a few weeks ago and it was decided instead of just repairing the ship it made more economic sense to carry out the upgrade at the same time. The conversion will take around a month.
Arafura Sea class frigate F152 Aral Sea II has entered service, the last Terran Sea C frigate to be built. Construction will begin of the first Terran Sea D frigate, F160 Sea Of Tranquility, in the Summer with an intended debut before the end of the year.
The first of the DDS' landing ships L111 Pangaea has completed Phase 1 of it's intensive proving trials. Phase 2 will begin next month following some modifications to the Pangaea following feedback on the trials. Some issues have arisen with respect to the internal layout of docking bays and communication systems though a DDS spokesman said there were "no showstoppers". Pangaea is expected to enter service Q3.
A151 Gasoline has become the latest Extender oiler to enter service. The DDS are considering a sub-type of reprocessing Extenders which would carry out the reprocessing of spent fuel. This is currently done at an orbital facility around Solaris but this is due for replacement and the DDS are considering it a more economic and flexible idea to put the reprocessing role on Extenders which would also have auxiliary refuelling and transport roles.
