HMS Protector Leaves Portsmouth, UK

Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Protector left Portsmouth yesterday (October 17) for a ‘double deployment’ to the frozen continent of Antarctica.

The 5,000-tonne ship will stay in the region for two consecutive deployments, returning to her new home at Devonport Naval Base in Spring 2015. She will conduct surveys and patrols on behalf of the UK Hydrographic Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and provide logistical support to the British Antarctic Survey organisation.

It’s the ship’s first deployment since being bought by the Ministry of Defence last month from GC Rieber Shipping. The MoD had previously leased the vessel from the company.

Protector will continue to provide a sovereign and reassuring presence in the United Kingdom’s largest Overseas Territory – the British Antarctic Territory. She will help deliver the United Kingdom’s commitments under the Antarctic Treaty, support science programmes and ensure that expeditions and vessels are meeting their international environmental obligations.

The ship’s team of four divers are a key component of the team, gathering vital underwater data. The team are deployed to carry out their tasks in Protector’s flotilla of small boats, including the state-of-the-art survey vessel James Caird IV.

The vessel is also used to collect imagery as part of Protector’s role in surveying the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Together with data from the ship’s multi-beam echo sounder, the information is used by the UK Hydrographic Office to update international navigational charts to improve the safety of other ships and mariners using the waters.

Protector’s Commanding Officer, Captain Rhett Hatcher, said: “The ship’s company have worked incredibly hard in training and preparation over the summer. We have installed a number of equipment upgrades and improvements and having completed operational sea training we are now ready for the challenges of the planned double deployment.

“Experienced members of the crew and new ones alike are very much looking forward to this deployment and proudly flying the White Ensign and the Union Flag around the Antarctic territories and the region.”

Also embarked for the deployment will be a small detachment of Royal Marines, responsible for cold weather and survival skill support and training for Protector’s personnel whenever they land ashore in the Antarctic.

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Press Release, October 18, 2013; Image: Royal Navy