12 STOREY NAVAL VESSEL BOOSTS TCI’S SECURITY – AND SPORTING PROWESS

A visit by a large and imposing naval vessel to most ports is a memorable sight, and the arrival of the Royal Feet Auxiliary’s “Lyme Bay” ship was no exception, dominating  Grand Turk’s skyline this month. Over 12 storeys, so nearly as high as the massive cruise ships arriving here, Lyme Bay carried over 150 marines and commandos to see how they could support Turks and Caicos in the event of another traumatic hurricane, like “Ike” which destroyed many homes in 2008.

The marines soon discovered that using Lyme Bay’s amphibious landing vessel in the soft sands here was not straightforward, but after rescuing a local boat owner who had got into difficulties they were soon examining the capital’s infrastructure and emergency facilities. Staff from TCI’s disaster management team (DDME) took part in joint exercises with the marines, and members of the Department for Environment and Maritime Affairs (DEMA) also worked with the naval team to look at various environmental hazards on the island and how to handle them.

In a first ever for Turks and Caicos, Lyme Bay also visited the tourism and business centre of Providenciales, a six hour sail away from Grand Turk. En route the ship’s Lynx helicopter took members of DEMA to assess problems of illegal fishing on Caicos Banks, and charcoal burning on Providenciales, and took DDME staff to carry out aerial surveys of remote populated areas in the sister islands.

Lyme Bay’s  draught was too deep to get into harbour in Provo, so those of us fortunate enough to take the early morning sail there were given a final send-off from the ship, in a stomach –churning, 40 knots race of two miles to shore on one of the marine’s fast rib boats. Perhaps they were taking their revenge for a 7-2 drubbing at soccer in Grand Turk, not to mention a cricketing collapse rarely seen, and matching Stuart Broad’s performance in Nottingham, when Grand Turk’s opening firebrand had them at 0-3 in his first three balls!

Despite their sporting losses the officers and crew of Lyme Bay made a real mark in Turks and Caicos. We need the re-assurance that a vessel of that capability could be on hand in the event of another hurricane, and its work in co-operation with the US is a valuable boost for the work of our police force and marine authority, who had such spectacular success in arresting 28 Domincan Republic illegal fishermen recently.