As in the recent past, there has been another practice landing of equipment at Crocus Bay by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, Mounts Bay, should Anguilla be struck by a hurricane again and is in need of a rapid response.
RFA Mounts Bay, now on patrol in the Caribbean area, offloaded the landing of equipment in Anguilla on July 5. It was brought ashore on a mexeflote, a large barge capable of carrying and deploying tons of heavy equipment, other supplies and detachments of marines. The equipment included all-terrain vehicles, trucks, tractors, diggers and quad bikes to enable quick and effective movement.
Mr. Colin Hicks, Staff Officer at the Governor’s Office, who was on the scene to welcome the ship’s personnel and to view the landing operations, commented:
“This is a humanitarian and disaster relief exercise to simulate a landing where we bring in assistance from RFA Mounts Bay to provide help in the event of a hurricane or other natural disasters.”
Mr. Hicks added: “The equipment was brought in to conduct an exercise at Zenaida Haven Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre to simulate what would ordinarily go on in the event of a disaster. The equipment will allow the operators to do some ground-cleaning and they will also be working on the internal structure.”
“RFA Mounts Bay has been deployed since 2017 in the region on permanent watch for hurricane preparedness. After leaving Anguilla, the ship went on to Montserrat.
