Royal Navy: Portsmouth ship HMS Tamar carries out training in New Zealand ahead of illegal fishing mission

The Portsmouth-based patrol vessel HMS Tamar is deployed in the waters of the Hairaki Gulf near Auckland on the North Island. Sailors got involved with the Royal New Zealand Navy’s deployable boarding team.

The patrol vessel is also set to go to Fiji for further operations. Training exercises involved the patrol vessel working alongside Swan V and the multi-purpose HMNZS Canterbury - a ship which the Royal Navy said is the "Swiss pocket knife" of the Kiwi navy.

Both ships acted as vessels of interest for sailors to board and search for fishing hauls. HMS Tamar will be carrying out joint patrols with the Fijian authorities in the waters around the island chain. The aim is to support the Commonwealth nation and train military personnel in board and search operations to help them curb illegal fishing.

Fishing counts for around one tenth of Fiji’s exports, with illicit activities depriving immediate income to families while also upsetting the ecological balance of the South Pacific. HMS Tamar has been operating thousands of miles away from home over the past two years. Her crew has been rotated regularly to sustain her Asia-Pacific mission.

Lieutenant Justine Lambert, Tamar’s correspondence officer, said: "It is a bit different from doing our sea training in the South Coast Exercise areas. North Island and the Gulf of Hauraki are stunning. The welcome and assistance we have had from the Royal New Zealand Navy has been amazing. The traditional Pōwhiri welcome is an experience that will stay with me for a lifetime.”

Commander Tom Gell, Tamar’s Commanding Officer, added: “Working with our close partner navy, the RNZN, is like working with colleagues. The training in the Hauraki Gulf with the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Deployable Boarding Team and Maritime Training Group has been outstanding. It has also been fantastic to see the Royal Navy’s FOST organisation and the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Maritime Training Group come together to deliver world class training.

“Tamar and her ship’s company have really benefitted. The welcome and support we have received from our New Zealand brothers and sisters has been awesome. The partnership between our two navies continues to flourish.”

Cdr Gell also joined veterans Operation Grapple while in Auckland. The former personnel received medals issued by the UK Government in recognition of test veterans’ service at several operations 60 to 70 years ago. They were invited into the Naval Museum in Devonport for the formal presentation of the decorations in the presence of British High Commissioner Iona Thomas, New Zealand’s Associate Minister for Defence and Veterans, Chris Penk, and the Deputy Chief of the RNZN, Commodore Andrew Brown.