Regular readers will know of my 25 day commitment this year to the Royal Navy as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. For the last two weeks I have been with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) refuelling ship RFA Waver Ruler on its North Atlantic tasking that involves visiting the British Overseas Territories, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and fighting the drug war.
The RFA is a little known but important part of Britain's defence capabilities. Its purpose is to support the British fleet in terms of resupplying at sea and a number of other roles. Whilst the crews are civilian, they are paid by the Ministry of Defence and they take their orders from the Admiralty. RFA Wave Ruler may not be a warship in the traditional sense, but with a grey hull and defensively armed, it is certainly a ship of war.
The crew comprises 80 RFA personnel, 20 Royal Naval, 10 US Coastguards, 15 RN Flight personnel to man and maintain the Lynx helicopter and 2 Royal Marine snipers.
The presence of a British ship is important to the Overseas Territories. These are islands with limited resources and our reassurance is important to their citizens. But the role of humanitarian aid and disaster relief is crucial for the whole of the Caribbean. With the hurricane season well under way, holds full of emergency relief packs, 400 tonnes of fresh water and the ability to produce a further 100 tonnes every day, plus 50 men and women to provide immediate relief after a natural disaster, RFA Wave Ruler provides a vital and reassuring resource. We spent one day of twelve on land and that was to visit the British Overseas Territory of Cayman Brac. The purpose was to survey their emergency resources and to prepare a disaster relief plan if needed. Having been devastated recently by hurricane Paloma, their interest in this was intense, whilst their preparations well made.
But it was in the war against drugs that we really saw the ship in action. On a two day period, the ship located and chased down a drug boat refueller, which we intercepted and held whilst permission was sought from the Columbian government to board and arrest the crew. But whilst waiting for that permission, we heard intelligence of a far bigger drug runner 100 miles north and so we released the small fry to catch the bigger fish. Five hours later, the ship's helicopter was filming a fast boat dumping 1,000 kilos of cocaine over the side, whilst the ship's US Coastguard law enforcement detachment caught up in a fast boat to arrest the drug runners. For the next 24 hours, and whilst the smugglers were handcuffed and kept under guard by the Coastguards, we searched the ocean, in vain, for the evidence needed to make a charge. In the end we had to release the smugglers, but RFA Wave Ruler was credited with a £55 million drug disruption.
This is the type of work that our country undertakes every day across the world. Being ready to help in a disaster is important whilst taking the supply of drugs off the streets of our towns and cities is crucial to reducing both crime and human tragedy. The AFPS is financed privately so does not cost the taxpayer any money, but it gives MPs an opportunity to scrutinise how taxpayers' money is spent. It also gives us an opportunity to see what many of our constituents do in their daily lives. But importantly it gives us an informed insight into the world of our armed services - including the RFA.