Report by SLT Nick Foster originally from Whakatane - on assignment with the Canadian Navy.

On Monday 11 January, ENS Kendra Titheridge and I were on board HMCS HALIFAX as the frigate departed Halifax Harbour to conduct work-ups in preparation for a four week anti-narcotics patrol in the Caribbean.

On Tuesday we received word that Haiti had been struck by an earthquake and HALIFAX was to return to port.  The Minister of Defence simultaneously announced that HALIFAX and HMCS ATHABASKAN were being dispatched to Haiti to help with the relief effort.  We arrived home late the next morning and commenced a mad 30-hour stores embarkation.

I returned to my home ship, ATHABASKAN (the ‘Atha B’).  The dockyard was bustling with containers, cranes and camera crews.  The ship’s company worked long into the night and at 1500 on Thursday the last of the stores came aboard, the brow was landed and the boatswains let go the lines. ATHABASKAN had been in the middle of a short maintenance period and the fact that she was able to fully store and fuel the ship and embark aid stores at short notice, is a credit to all her company.

The five day transit was conducted at 22 knots – in a 38 year-old gas turbine ship that meant high fuel consumption. While on passage, we began preparations, received briefs on the equipment the crew would take ashore (chainsaws, concrete cutters, generators and hand-tools) and on what they could expect on the ground in Haiti.  We also began taking malaria medication.

We rendezvoused with USNS BIG HORN to embark 500 cubes of F76, while on the port side the massive helicopter carrier USS BATAAN was also gassing up. Her decks were lined with helicopters, reminding us of the sheer scale of hardware the Americans were deploying.

ATHABASKAN was directed to send people ashore in the town of Legoane just east of Port au Prince near the epicentre of the quake.  As the sun rose on Tuesday 19 January the mountainous coast of Haiti became visible and a flotilla of small fishing vessels began to fill the bay – it was clear that contact avoidance was going to make this a busy forenoon watch.  ‘Big Dawg’ our Sea King helicopter lifted off on a reconnaissance mission while members of the boarding party and the other ‘away team’ closed up. Our helo identified an LZ and the ship’s boats set off for the shore with the first wave of personnel and equipment.

On Day One the objective was to establish ourselves ashore, make contact with the locals and identify areas where we could make a difference. Members of the away team helped clean up a school, set up security for a first aid centre, and provided light engineering. The crew who remained on board found themselves in frequent rotations, to cover for those who were ashore.

Reports back to the ship were positive, with our teams well-received by the locals, and no signs of the looting that had been reported in Port au Prince. The shore parties felt aftershocks all day, with one reported as 6.1.  Much to our surprise we could even feel the shocks while on the ship.

More...

Also read about Ensign Kendra Titheridge's time in Haiti.