Drug Busting Supership Returns To Plymouth
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Wave Ruler returns to the UK after the most successful deployment on counter drugs operations in recent history. She also gave disaster relief to a village destroyed hit by Hurricane Dean.
RFA Wave Ruler’s four major drug busts amassed a record haul of over 11 tonnes of cocaine, bound for the streets of the UK, Europe and the US. Her operational capabilities were enhanced for the duty by the embarkation of the Royal Navy’s 218 Lynx flight and the Law Enforcement Detachment from the US Coastguard, thus boosting the ship’s ability to conduct the highly successful deployment.
On top of the drug seizures she also shadowed and monitored seven hurricanes and most recently carried out disaster relief operations with HMS Portland to help Xaibe village in Belize, destroyed by hurricane Dean.
Many of the locals were touched by the help and assistance the crew of RFA Wave Ruler provided. Some acts were as simple as offering assurance and giving them tools. Members of the Wave Ruler’s crew also helped with rebuilding homes for the local population.
The first of four major drugs seizures was in September last year from the fishing boat Donna Marie when intercepted after a night-time chase. The fishing boat’s crew dramatically decided to set fire to the vessel in the hope of destroying their illicit cargo. Although ablaze, the crew from RFA Wave Ruler, the US Coastguard and 218 Flight managed to salvage the drugs cargo as well rescuing the crew from the fishing vessel.
The following month the motor vessel Miss Edith was tracked and boarded and again another significant illegal drugs haul was confiscated
In November last year the fishing vessel Oliana 1 was stopped and boarded in a dawn raid after ignoring radio calls. Despite the crew’s claim they were merely fishing, the search found bundles of cocaine rather than the claimed barrels of fish in the holds.
This latest seizure made her the most successful British drug busting ship in recent years.
The final drugs bust of the deployment took place in September this year when a smuggler’s aircraft dropped a bag of drugs in-shore from the air. This drop was intercepted in international waters off the south coast of the Dominican Republic. This method of seizure was a first for RFA Wave Ruler.
The patrol also involves standing by to aid the British Dependencies in case of threats and damage by hurricanes and other emergencies. Therefore, on 15 August this year the ship was on standby for disaster relief and followed the hurricane across the Caribbean before the storm slammed into Belize causing severe devastation.
RFA Waves Ruler put three teams to the small village of Xaibe over two of the teams slept outside on camp beds at the makeshift camp. 15 houses at 5 different villages were repaired and re-roofed.
Captain George Jarvis, who is retiring after leaving command of RFA Wave Ruler said:
"As this will be my last full appointment with the RFA service before retirement, I could not wish to have served on a more capable ship with such an excellent crew, including 218 Lynx Flight RN and the Law Enforcement Detachment (USCG).
“We covered the full scope of the deployment, from disaster relief following Hurricane Dean and the entertaining children from Anguilla, to the seizure of 5.5 tons of illegal cocaine from a fishing vessel last September. Work that offers so much challenge and adventure is rare.
“During our travels we have always received a warm friendly welcome from local dignitaries during port visits, and have been shown respect throughout the Caribbean for our professionalism and our pride in the RFA service for whom we work. No other career could have given me greater occupational job satisfaction.”
RFA Wave Ruler spent 407 days at sea covering 103,369 nautical miles (4.8 times round the world at the equator) and visiting 21 different ports in the Caribbean and North America.
Commodore Robert Thornton, head of the RFA said: “I am immensely proud of the work the Wave Ruler and her crew have done since their deployment and I am extremely pleased to welcome her safely back to the UK. It was the team effort of the crew, integrating with the US Coastguard and the other nations involved in counter-drugs and disaster-relief operations, which made Wave Ruler so successful in her operations. The versatility demonstrated by RFA Wave Ruler is not only a reflection on the ship, but also on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as an organisation. The ship has received much praise from high levels of government.”