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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
(BIS Photo/Gena Gibbs)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas –The Royal Navy’s HMS Severn arrived at Woodes Rogers Wharf, Nassau Harbour, Friday, on routine training exercises and to demonstrate cooperation with regional security forces.
HMS Severn’s crew of 50 naval officers is training with respect to surveillance, reconnaissance, and interdiction of marine piracy in Bahamian waters, such as drug trafficking, illegal immigrants, and poachers.
British High Commissioner His Excellency David Fitton said: “The HMS Severn is here for a few months in the Caribbean. It’s very important for lots of reasons, to demonstrate our cooperation with the regional security forces here in The Bahamas. They have good cooperation with the Royal Bahamian Defence Force. They did some exercises this morning. They’re doing some more before they leave.
“When they’re traveling around the region of course, they are presenting the best of what the UK has to offer. But not only that, if something were to happen, let’s say a volcano eruption on one of the islands or an earthquake or something, they have stores on board and they could help.”
Mr. Fitton said the HMS Severn is not a huge ship and does not have a lot of staff but can act as a shipping auxiliary in crisis situations.
“They have an operational role too. They work with the regional Defence Force’s interdiction of drug smugglers, sometimes migration smugglers, and arms smugglers even. The most common one they work on here is drug smuggling,” said Mr. Fitton.
(BIS Photos/Gena Gibbs)
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“There is a commitment, particularly during the hurricane season to the overseas territories such as Turks and Caicos and some of the others. We make a point of ensuring that a vessel, such as this, visits other independent countries as well, like The Bahamas, because the cooperation with the Defence Forces is quite important.”
Mr. Fitton said that what is interesting about this ship, the HMS Severn, is it’s quite a small ship as we had seen when we were taken about it on tour.
“A lot of what we are trying to achieve, whether it is stopping the bad guys that sort of thing in the region, is best done in cooperation with others. It may not just be with one Defence Force, it may be two or three working together,” he reported.
Mr. Fitton added that it corresponds more to the size of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force vessels and the U.S. Coast Guard, which has the same-sized vessels here. The UK vessel is learning how to cope with issues in Bahamian waters or the Atlantic Ocean.
“A lot of what they are doing on this trip, this ship was originally used for fisheries protection. And I know that’s an issue here in The Bahamas. So, there has already been something that both sides have learned in discussions today, and that’s just one aspect. If the ships are the same size and they are doing the same sort of operation, then I think it’s easier for both sides to learn from each other,” said Mr. Fitton. (BIS Photos/Gena Gibbs)
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