British aid ship arrives in Haiti

Monday, February 22, 2010

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Largs Bay has arrived in Haiti loaded with stores and equipment to aid victims of the January earthquake.

The 16,160-tonne ship set sail from the Sea Mounting Centre at Marchwood, near Southampton, on 3 February tasked with delivering bulky items that are not suitable for air freight. Her cargo included 5,700 sheets of corrugated iron to build shelters, 40 vehicles and 15 containers of general stores.

Sailing on board RFA Largs Bay to Haiti was the Culdrose-based Military Aviation Support Force, which provides the expertise and facilities for the operation of aircraft from ships and land bases abroad.

Their presence in Haiti will greatly improve the distribution of supplies around the island, which was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on 12 January.

RFA Largs Bay will remain in Haiti after supplies have been offloaded to be tasked as necessary by the UN and the World Food Programme to assist in getting further aid into the country.

On 23 January a C-130 Hercules crewed by 30 Squadron flew from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, into Port-au-Prince in Haiti. This was the first UK military air asset involved in the response.

On board were 16 members of a UK Military Stabilisation Unit, manned by members of all three services with 11,839kg of freight, including a Land Rover, a generator, fuel, tents, water and ration packs. This allowed the team to be self-sufficient for 14 days, working alongside UK Aid - a non-governmental organisation that was scrambled in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

The ship's mission is on behalf of the Department for International Development, Save the Children and the International Federation of Red Cross.

The crew of the RFA Largs Bay maintain a Haiti blog, which can be found here.