JEDDAH, 26 January 2007 — The type 22 frigate HMS Campbeltown is paying a courtesy visit to Jeddah on her way to take up duties in the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf as part of Coalition Task Force 150 (CTF150). One of the most powerful ships in the Royal Navy, the ship and her captain, Capt. Rupert Wallace, are no strangers to Jeddah or Saudi Arabia. Out of the last six years of deployment, five have been in the Middle East.
Capt. Wallace explained that the 5,300-ton warship, which carries a formidable array of air surface and sub-sea defense and attack weaponry, left the UK two and a half weeks ago to take up its current mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. He said that part of the deployment was to make visits to Saudi Arabia to refuel and re-supply. “Very importantly, the visit to Jeddah allows us to make new friends and cement old relationships,” he told Arab News. “It also allows the sailors (a mixed crew of 260) a run ashore,” he said. “Many of the sailors have not been here before and it is important to let them see Jeddah and for local people to see and meet them.” At the conclusion of its three-month deployment in the region, Campbeltown is scheduled to revisit Saudi Arabia.
On Dec. 6, 2006 the United Kingdom assumed the leadership of a multinational command team in charge of CTF150. Based in Bahrain, Commodore Bruce Williams OBE RN, who is currently with Campbeltown during her visit, assumed command of a Task Force Headquarters staff that included representation from 10 coalition partners. CTF 150 was established near the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, and conducts maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. “We are interested in maintaining security in the Gulf of Aden and the southern exit of the Red Sea - Bab Al Mandab,” Capt. Wallace said. The particular focus of the deployment will be looking at counterterrorism along with the smuggling of people, drugs and contraband. “We want to demonstrate the presence of ships in order to keep the sea open for all nations,” he said, “because it is important that all ships that come through this area — and that is a very large number — can do so peacefully.”
On board Campbeltown and shortly to return to his base in Bahrain via a flying visit to another ship in the task force, Commodore Bruce Williams said that the ship first deployed to the area as part of the coalition forces following 9/11. “We are moving on to an increasingly peaceful and capable environment with regional nations and ensuring safe and secure seas free from the scourge of terrorism,” he said.
Commodore William’s area of responsibility stretches over international waters from Kenya to India to the Strait of Hormuz. He confirmed that his goal and that of the maritime community - fishermen or the merchant marine or other maritime nations - was the promotion and implementation of the peaceful use of the seas. He said it was an ongoing process.
“The whole enterprise is an enduring one; these are not individual operations and ships join and leave continuously.” He said that currently he had 11 different nations represented on his staff. “That varies when countries can provide ships and provide ships and staff. This is the crossroads of the world, whether it is trade to Europe and beyond or whether it is oil. The quadrupling of shipping over the last four decades has led to what might be considered a target-rich environment.”
The targets may be terrorism or piracy, criminal activity or disasters at sea or even human trafficking or a multiplicity of activities that could present themselves as threats. “The question is,” he said, “What is the worth of being here to do that job?” The answer he said was in assisting nations in developing their own capabilities. “We are not here just for our own purposes, but to help others develop their capabilities as well in dealing with those threats.”
In October, a French supertanker, the Limbourg, was the object of a seaborne suicide bomb attack off the coast of Yemen which was claimed by Al-Qaeda.
As an indication of the effectiveness of the whole operation, Commodore Williams asked: “How many terrorist attacks have you seen on the water in the last four years since the Limbourg? Have you seen piracy on the decrease? Have you seen people rescued from the sea and saved? Have you seen regional coastguard capability increased by our cooperation? To all these questions, I would have to answer yes.”
He said that the presence of Campbeltown together with other coalition forces was like an insurance policy for your house but with a difference. “In the normal course of events the policy pays if the house burns down; we stop it from burning down in the first place.”
