This week was indeed full of excitement with the arrival of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Ruler to Anguilla. According to information on their official website, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service (RFA) is a civilian manned fleet, owned by the Ministry of Defence. Its main task is to supply warships of the Royal Navy at sea with fuel, food, stores and ammunition which they need to remain operational while away from base. It also provides aviation support for the Royal Navy, together with amphibious support and secure sea transport for Army units and their equipment. Yet, as more information was provided by the Commanding Officer Captain George Jarvis at a press conference at Police Headquarters, it was made clear that the Wave Ruler and RFA have many other roles as well.

Captain Jarvis and Flight Commander Simpson give a press briefing

Captain Jarvis made it clear that the Wave Ruler’s main role in the Caribbean was that of a humanitarian nature. They are heavily focused on providing disaster relief, hurricane relief as well as counter drug operations. The counter drug aspect makes the function of the ship multi-faceted as there are various contingents involved. There is a Royal Navy unit on board comprising of a Flight Commander, Pilot, and two marine snipers. These crew members, along with other personnel involved in operating and maintaining the Lynx Helicopter, make the patrolling of the Caribbean Sea possible. Moreover, the American Coast Guard along with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) are also on board as they are the chief law enforcement agent that are permitted to board and search vessels suspected of drug trafficking. Flight Commander Scott Simpson of the Royal Navy spoke in more detail about the operation: “We are separate from the fleet but work closely together. We look most mornings for any traffic, fly with two snipers, and we ask ships to stop. If they refuse to stop, we disable the vessels and then the Americans take over and board.” Mr. Simpson was asked to explain further about how they disable the vessels from the air. He further explained that the two marine snipers have high-powered rifles that are aimed at the boat’s propulsion systems. If the boat refuses to stop, the marine snipers, who are obviously highly skilled, fire from a moving helicopter and hit the boat that is moving as well and eventually renders it disabled. During the Wave Ruler’s stint in the Caribbean, they have had many successful busts in which they have captured a total of GBP £1.1 billion of cocaine.

Besides patrolling and keeping the waters safe from criminal activity, the Wave Ruler also engages in helping the British Overseas Territories with necessary training. At the request of the Royal Anguilla Police Force, various members of the crew conducted navigational training aboard the Dolphin, the boat used by the RAPF to patrol the waters around Anguilla. Also, medical personnel from both American and British contingents conducted medical training for Anguillan agencies. The RFA Wave Ruler’s crew comprises 96 persons not including the Royal Navy and American agents. The RFA is formed by merchant sailors who are not members of the armed forces. They are civilians but man the ships of the Defence Ministry. Captain Jarvis just joined the Wave Ruler as the Commanding Officer and commented that this would be his last assignment after a 37 year career with the RFA. The Wave Ruler is five years old and was commissioned in November of 2002. This marks the second period of its Caribbean presence as it was here in 2003-2004. The ship arrived in April 2006 and will remain until September 2007 when it will return to the UK and be replaced by its sister ship, the RFA Wave Night. The Wave Ruler will return in April of 2008 and has already visited most of the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean. It has also gone to Curacao for maintenance and will also travel to Guantanamo Bay for re-fueling. The Wave Ruler is a Tanker and provides fuel for many ships in the Caribbean, but it also must refuel as well.

RFA Wave Ruler

The Ship departed Anguilla at 9 am, Wednesday June 20 and will spend three weeks at sea before arriving in Barbados. Members of the crew can sign on for 4 months but, while in the Caribbean, most have decided to stay and extra two months to enjoy the scenery. Both Captain Jarvis and Flight Commander Simpson were asked their opinion about Anguilla. They commented that it is a wonderful spot and quite lovely because it is unspoilt. They have both felt very welcome by the locals.

HE The Governor Mr. Andrew George boards the Wave Ruler

H.E. The Governor Mr. and Mrs. Andrew George, along with Ministers of Government and the Attorney General, as well as the media, were invited aboard the Wave Ruler for an informal luncheon. The Commanding Officer spoke to the invited guests:

“I would like to welcome HE the Governor, the Honourable Chief Minister Mr. Osbourne Fleming, and other honourable ministers of government on board our the ship the Wave Ruler this afternoon and also I would like to take this opportunity to thank you Sir (HE The Governor) for the hospitality you showed us last night during the celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s official birthday. The RFA has had ships in the Caribbean for as long as I can remember which is way beyond 40 years and I think we should remember the role of the RAF in the Caribbean. Although on an opportunity basis, the ship does get involved in other operations such as counter drug our primary aim here in the Caribbean is to support the British Overseas Territories in hurricane relief and humanitarian aid so, rest assured Sir, that if you do get into trouble with hurricanes this year we are here ready to assist if necessary. When the Wave Ruler returns next year, we will look forward to renewing acquaintances we have made here today. I would just like to say that I wish you a dry and safe passage back to shore this afternoon and, because we are coming back next year, we look forward to seeing you again.”

Captain Jarvis presents a gift to the Hon Evans Rogers

After finishing his speech, Captain Jarvis made a presentation to the Honourable Evans Rogers. He said, “I would also like to take this opportunity to ask the education minister to come forward. As you know, we had 75 school children on board yesterday. We certainly enjoyed entertaining them and I hope that the children enjoyed it also. Because of the numbers of children and different schools being represented, we were not able to give them all a memento of their visit so I would like you to accept a gift on behalf of the ship which is a picture of the ship and also a crest.”

School children visit the Wave Ruler and Flight Deck

Other members of the crew were kind enough to take The Anguillian on a tour of the ship as well as provide other information. David Eagles, the ship’s Executive Officer and second in command, explained various intricacies of the Ship’s Bridge and the vessel itself. The bridge was quite spacious and technologically advanced. Jules Pearson, a systems engineer who works on the communications equipment, was quite personable and offered information on how the ship would help in the event of a disaster. Hannah Vickers, a cadet officer, was quite accommodating as well in explaining life aboard a ship of this magnitude. Chris Hayes, the Leading Hand Helicopter Controller, did a fantastic job of taking photographs of the ship’s visit to Anguilla as well as describing its overall function and life aboard a ship. Finally, Scott Simpson spoke in great detail about the role of the helicopter crew and life as a member of the Royal Navy. The Anguillian would like to extend congratulations to Scott on his recent engagement to his fiancé and wish them all the best.
It was obvious that the crew is top notch as well as the ship itself. It is comforting to know that the RFA Wave Ruler will be in the Caribbean to help if need be.

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