Royal Navy warship HMS Medway begins mission battling drug dealers in the Caribbean

Portsmouth-based patrol ship HMS Medway has taken over the responsibility for the region from naval support ship, RFA Mounts Bay.

It’s the vessel’s first operational mission with the Senior Service since she was commissioned into naval service in September.

She will be based in the region for several years as part of the navy’s new method of forward-deploying warships across the globe for extended tours of duty.

Medway’s crew formally took over the role during a meeting on the Dutch island of Curacao, where Mounts Bay offloaded some of the humanitarian aid supplies left over from last year’s hurricane season.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship is now heading back to England after spending three years supporting counter-narcotic operations and disaster relief.

‘After a hot and sweaty store ship with more humanitarian aid and disaster relief supplies, a team visited Mounts Bay for the handover and to learn about their experiences of the past three years operating in the area,’ said Commander Ben Power, Medway’s captain.

‘We’ve been inspired by Mounts Bay success and, with our new, refreshed crew, we’re sailing to Jamaica for further defence engagement and continued preparation for disaster relief and counter-narcotic operations.’

Mounts Bay – whose last success in theatre was a £40m drugs bust with the US Coast Guard at the beginning of February – is now making her way back across the Atlantic for the first time since 2017.

She’s been away for more than 1,000 days – over half of them at sea – having clocked up nearly 90,000 miles and visited 32 different ports.

Captain Kevin Rimell, her final commanding officer before she goes into a refit in Falmouth said the ship left the Caribbean having made an ‘immense’ impact on life in the region ‘from the hurricane relief efforts of 2017 and 2019 to the significant drugs interception in 2020’.

‘I know Mounts Bay will be sorely missed by many,’ he said.