HMS Medway has arrived in the Virgin Islands for a 4-day visit, during which the ship will demonstrate its Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief capabilities.
Medway provides a permanent presence in the Caribbean and during the hurricane season is joined by another ship to form the UK’s Caribbean Task Group, which is ready and prepared to provide immediate support in the event of a natural disaster in the region.
There will be a display on Sunday 24th in Queen Elizabeth II Park between 1.00 pm. and 4.00 p.m. where members of the ship’s company will demonstrate the disaster relief skills and capability of the Task Group. This will include chain-saw clearance techniques and the showcasing of equipment used including quad bikes, trailer, tools, shelters and ration packs. For families and children there will be battleship games and flag decoding competitions with the ship.
In addition to the display, on Monday, a team from the Task Group will be working alongside the Department for Disaster Management who are running a Table Top Exercise with the key actors in a disaster scenario.
The Task Group consists of the patrol ship HMS Medway, the tanker Wave Knight and its embarked Wildcat HMA2 helicopter, along with the Crisis Response Troop drawn from 24 Commando Royal Engineers. It carries specialist equipment and emergency supplies for use in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
His Excellency Governor John Rankin CMG said, ‘I am very pleased that Royal Navy ship HMS Medway has arrived in the territory today for a four day visit. I look forward to meeting with Task Group Commander Trim and the Ship Commanding Officer Chris Hollingworth today to hear more on the humanitarian aid and disaster relief they stand ready to provide in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. I would encourage everyone to come and see their skills and capability on show at the Queen Elizabeth II Park this Sunday 24th October between 1-4pm. And I look forward to hearing how the disaster scenario tabletop exercise goes on Monday with key agencies working alongside DDM and the Medway team.’