A Look At The European Naval Support Mission In The Caribbean

Earlier this year in response to the Coronavirus pandemic the United Kingdom, France & The Netherlands deployed some of their military assets to the Caribbean in order to support their overseas territories. Many of the territories do not have the medical or logistical capacity to cope with an outbreak on the scales of which has been seen elsewhere in the world & across Europe.

France, Britain & The Netherlands both have a number of overseas territories in the region these include.

Britain:

Anguilla
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Montserrat
Turks and Caicos Islands

France:

French Guiana
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Martin

The Netherlands:

Aruba
Bonaire
Curaçao
Saba
Sint Eustatius
Sint Maarten

The vessels that were sent include RFA Argus, FS Dixmude & HNLMS Karel Doorman. Each bringing their own unique capabilities to the area. This is in addition to the already deployed vessels there which include HMS Medway & HNLMS Zeeland.

RFA Argus, Dixmude & HNLMS Karel Doorman sail together

Dixmude departed France to primarily support the logistical aspect of the outbreak. The vessel departed with a number of helicopters able to with the transportation of supplies & patients. At the time Dixmude sailed there were not any plans for her to be used to treat coronavirus patients due to not having a large medical facility.

HNLMS Karel Doorman was the last of vessels to be announced to be heading to the region. Karel Doorman will also be able to provide an increase in logistical capabilities for the Dutch territories in a similar role to what Dixmude is doing. Karel Doorman does have a larger medical facility with 20 treatment rooms & two surgery rooms. Offering the capacity to treat patients should that be required.

RFA Argus is probably the most medically equipped vessel to be deployed. As her role as a primary casualty receiving ship for the RFA & Royal Navy suits her for this role. RFA Argus departed the United Kingdom equipped with 3 Merlins & 1 Wildcat helicopter. She also embarked on humanitarian supplies in preparation for the upcoming hurricane season, along with Royal Marines to provide support in disaster relief operations. RfA Argus comes equipped with a wide variety of medical facilities to assist the BOT, these include: 10 ICU beds 20 high dependency beds 70 general beds Operating Theatre CT Scanner

RFA Argus has also been up to much more than just assisting with the pandemic in the region she has been preparing her crew & doing recon of various BOTs in preparation for the hurricane season. She has visited all of the overseas territories in the region. The crew has also participated in HADR training on Montserrat & other territories.

In addition to the vessels that are there let's not forget the various Air forces that have also assisted. France has operated A400Ms in the region & also had transport aircraft flying in the area from French Guyana back to France. The Dutch have also utilised NATOs SAC program to bring flights of C-17s into Saint Martin. The RAF has also recently delivered 6 ventilators, blood & medicine to the Turks & Caicos Islands.

RAF Delivering supplies to the Turks & Caicos Islands. (MoD Photo)