The Royal Navy vessel HMS Tamar visits Darwin this week after successful completion of a first deployment in the Indo-Asia Pacific as part of Britain’s permanent naval presence in the region.
HMS Tamar visits the Northern Territory briefly for crew rotation, before continuing its permanent deployment in the region.
Over the course of their five-year deployment, HMS Tamar and sister ship Spey plan to work with allies and partners across the region and plan to visit countries from Australia to Japan, and Fiji to Singapore.
Since deploying in September 2021, Tamar and Spey have travelled 25,000 nautical miles to Columbia, through the Panama Canal, transiting along the US West coast and into the region via Hawaii.
“We’re delighted to welcome Tamar to Australian shores this week, and the chance for the crew to take a well deserved rest following a truly immense deployment across the region," British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell said. "The visit of HMS Tamar in Darwin, and HMS Spey’s deployment in the region, underlines our permanent naval presence across the Indo-Pacific and speaks to the UK’s ongoing commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific in which sovereign states of all sizes are free from coercion.”
Some of the highlights of Tamar’s operations since deployment in 2021 include patrol of the East China Sea to conduct monitoring and surveillance against illicit maritime activities, including ship-to-ship transfers with North Korean-flagged vessels prohibited by the United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs); participation in Exercise Bersama Shield with the Five Powers Defence Arrangements (FPDA) nations (UK, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia); and joining the Royal Brunei Navy Warship KDB DARULEHSAW for a passage exercise off Brunei.
Some of HMS Spey's operations have involved delivering aid to the Tongan Government following the Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption and tsunami; deploying a medical team to deliver Covid booster vaccinations and dental treatment to the people of the Pitcairn Islands; and working with regional partners to carry out environmental and hydrographic surveys as well as water sampling, contributing to studies on climate change.