October 11 - OP HAVRE Raoul Resupply
By PLTOFF TODD O'HARA, NZCF
In late October, multi-role vessel HMNZS CANTERBURY transported about 100 tonnes of equipment and supplies and 50 conservation and meteorological specialists to remote Raoul Island during its quarterly resupply run to New Zealand’s largest marine reserve.
Seasprite lifting one of the 155 loads delivered to Raoul island during OPERATION HAVRE
Raoul Island, the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec islands, is about 680 miles northeast of New Zealand’s North Island. New Zealand declared the sea around the Kermadec islands a marine reserve in 1990. Visits to the islands are restricted by the Department of Conservation, which maintains a permanently manned station on Raoul Island.
Around 70 junior officers from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) who are under going sea training aboard CANTERBURY also took part in Operation HAVRE, which ran from 30 October to 18 November.
CANTERBURY was anchored about one kilometer off the northern coast of Raoul for three days, serving as the platform for Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) exercises to resupply the island. The crew aboard CANTERBURY, Seasprite and ashore on Raoul worked tirelessly to transport each of the 155 total loads that were delivered to and from the island over 20 hours of flight time.
The Army loading team, assisted by the RAN officers in training, craned each item up from the lower cargo deck up to the hangar, where it was then loaded evenly on separate pallets. From there, the loads were moved to the end of the hangar door, where the RNZAF crew then took over. There are six Air Force crew attached to the CANTERBURY when a Seasprite is embarked. Their role is to maintain, refuel, secure the aircraft after flight, manage weapons loading and conduct the airlift of cargo on the flight deck. The team moves swiftly around the deck under the command of the Flight Deck Officer, Chief Petty Officer Matthew Jeffries. The role of the Flight Deck Officer is to coordinate both the bridge and the aircraft and manage all movements on the flight deck including those of the Seasprite.
The Seasprite crew, captained by LTCDR Ryan Brown and co-piloted by LT David Roderick and crewed by PO Nathan Tamihana, worked tirelessly for three days, shuttling as many as 10 loads of equipment an hour . With the turnaround time sometimes as short as six minutes, the crew at the receiving end, made up of Department of Conservation and Army staff, had to work quickly and efficiently in clearing inbound cargo from the drop location to where it was needed.
The precision of the Seasprite crew meant they were able to return load items from the shore back to the ship, using the flight deck for simultaneous operations. Coupled with the ability of the RNZAF crew onboard to “hot-refuel” (refueling without shutting down), this meant the aircraft was able to operate non-stop for three hours.
Raoul Island is home to 113 species of native flora, of which 23 are unique to the Kermadecs. The island hosts full-time and volunteer staff who search for weeds and introduce plants which are dangerous to the native ecosystem. Unfortunately, some of the “weeds” are not the same kind that you see in your grandma’s garden. Department of Conservation staff have identified plants dangerous to Raoul, including peach trees, macadamia trees, passion fruit vines and guava trees.
The operation was a complete success with the Seasprite and crew performing every task given to them. CANTERBURY had no problems supplying up to 1000 meals a day for all personnel on board and ferrying the 50 staff from the Department of Conservation and the MetService . CANTERBURY returned to Raoul in mid-November to transport the remaining workers and bring seven of the Department of Conservation staff back home for the first time in 12 months.