The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, Argus, left Anguilla on Monday this week after completing a five-day visit which was interrupted by the approach of Tropical Storm Isaac.
The ship arrived in Anguilla on Wednesday, August 22, as part of its deployment to the Caribbean region to provide reassurance and support to the British Overseas Territories during the hurricane season. Argus, however, left Road Bay hortly after its arrival to avoid the effects of the passing storm.
“We ran away bravely,” Captain Gerard Patterson told reporters at a press conference on Friday, August 24, the day the ship returned toRoadBayand welcomed back by Governor Alistair Harrison. “We tried to avoid the storm…to get to the safer side of the storm. The storm changed direction, so we then successfully ran away even farther to the north and ultimately remained roughly about 45 miles from Anguilla for the entire period the storm was around, passing to the south.”
Captain Patterson said the ship would be operating in the vicinity until December. “She is a very large, very flexible and capable ship with just about 200 people on board, and able to provide teams ashore for assistance with any natural disaster be it hurricanes or otherwise,” he stated. “We will be in the vicinity as directed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, at the request of the Governor, to give whatever assistance we can…My task, obviously, is initially to safeguard my ship so that we can provide assistance in the wake of any storm.”
RFA Argus has a disaster management team of thirty-five persons on board. It is equipped with a helicopter, tents, tarpaulins and tools for digging and cutting, in addition to a quantity of food supplies. There is a 100-bed hospital on board providing full medical services.
“The ship has a huge amount of resources,” the captain said.“You are probably looking at anywhere between three and five days’ assistance, and then our resources would be depleted. But by that time the external authorities and other government organisations and international aid relief organisations would be on site anyway – and then we would move on [to the next affected territory].”
The ship’s planned activities in Anguilla, over the weekend, included a football match against a local team and tours of the ship. Governor Harrison, Director of Disaster Management, Melissa Meade, and others, flew over the island by helicopter on a trial reconnaissance flight as is normally done in the wake of a hurricane.
