HMCS Regina is in the homestretch of a long deployment to the Arabian Sea and crew members are excited to be that much closer to Esquimalt Harbour.
Between participating in the multinational counter-terrorism Operation ARTEMIS, undertaking training exercises and engaging in outreach efforts in various ports of call, it has been an eventful eight months, said the shipB次元官网网址檚 commanding officer, Cmdr. Jason Boyd.
B次元官网网址淧ulling in the harbour that morning on the 14th, there will be a real sense of satisfaction when we get home,B次元官网网址� he said during a stopover in Hawaii on Tuesday.
But even after accomplishing such things as interrupting an illicit drug shipment in January and helping rescue the crew of a stranded Yemeni fishing boat in October, the yearning to get home is strong.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 such a long transit home in the Pacific Ocean,B次元官网网址� Boyd said. B次元官网网址淲hen we dropped out of (the mission) and weB次元官网网址檙e finally pointing east and , you realize thereB次元官网网址檚 still 50 days in front of you before you get there. Things tend to dip a little in terms of spirits and morale. But Hawaii is a very familiar stop for our sailors, with lots of familiar landmarks. We know it means weB次元官网网址檙e not far from home.B次元官网网址�
Regina and ships from the 26 other partner nations in Operation ARTEMIS operated under a different mandate than the UN Security Council resolution that followed 9-11, Boyd said. Their powers to act, upon boarding a suspected drug smuggling ship, are limited to seizing the narcotics and letting the individuals go free.
When Regina disrupted the smuggler ship B次元官网网址� the vessel was tracked using a state-of-the-art B次元官网网址� the culprits fled and dropped most of cargo over the side, leaving an estimated 450 kilograms of narcotics to sink to the bottom of the sea.
The UAV boosted the shipB次元官网网址檚 reconnaissance capability, Boyd said. B次元官网网址淲e were looked upon as one of the go-to ships because of our surveillance abilities. It made us a big player and brought a lot of credibility to our navy.B次元官网网址�
In all, Regina crew boarded 19 vessels, mostly just to check nationality of those on board, he said.
After the ship reaches port next Thursday, it will enter a period of technical maintenance to bring the frigate back up to ship-shape.
Boyd is due to take over the Naval Officer Training Centre in Esquimalt in May or June, while Cmdr. Dan Charlebois, currently stationed at naval headquarters in Ottawa, will take over as commander of Regina.
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