Canadian frigate, auxiliary ship deploy on Indo Asia Pacific mission

Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Regina on Wednesday departed the Esquimalt naval base in company of support ship M/V Asterix, starting a deployment which will see the duo operate in the Pacific Ocean, Asia, Middle East and East Africa.

Asterix returned to sea after completing a five-month Asia-Pacific deployment in December last year.

The deployment of Regina and Asterix is in support of operation Projection, Canada’s ongoing commitment to the region with its international security partners.

After initially supporting operation Projection, the ships will transition to operation Artemis in March to work with the Canadian-led Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150). CTF 150 is part of the Combined Maritime Force, which is a naval coalition of 33 partner nations that promotes security and stability in international waters of the Middle East regions.

Upon completion of their support to operation Artemis the ships will transition back to operation Projection for the remainder of their deployment and continue their engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.

HMCS Regina’s deployment represents Canada’s third deployment to the Asia-Pacific region under operation Projection, following the deployment of HMCS Calgary from August to December 2018. These deployments contribute to the Royal Canadian Navy’s persistent maritime presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Of note, this deployment also marks the third operational deployment of a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter, and the first deployment of a Cyclone with the Pacific Fleet.

“In 2018, Asterix and its expert crew of Federal Fleet Services staff excelled on its Asia-Pacific tour, at an operational tempo higher than any other ship in Canada’s naval fleet,” Spencer Fraser, CEO of Federal Fleet Services commented. “We now look forward to venturing out further during 2019 into the Middle East and East Africa alongside the Royal Canadian Navy and our international security partners. Later this month I look forward to sharing details of Asterix’s cutting-edge, cost-effective and fast-track design with world navies who are looking to procure naval support ships at the Naval Support Ships Conference in London, UK.”