Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Medway becomes a drug-runner during huge naval exercise in the Caribbean

HMS Medway joined ships and personnel from more than 20 nations off the east coast of Central America for the annual Tradewinds mission.

The patrol ship has been operating from the Gulf of Mexico to eastern USA seaboard since the beginning of 2020, working to provide humanitarian aid to disaster zones and bring down drug traffickers.

Now the 90-meter vessel has experienced life as a drug-runner, playing the part to test crews from Mexico, Canada, and the USA.

Able Seaman Kaj Carter, one of Medway’s seaboat coxswains, relished the chance to test his boat driving skills against formidable ‘opponents’.

‘Conducting counter-illegal trade exercises as both ‘opposing forces’ and stopping that trade was a great way to test my skills as a coxswain and the capability of Medway’s sea boats.

‘Working with the US Coast Guard and Mexican Navy is an experience I look forward to repeating throughout Medway’s deployment and future exercises.’

Commanding Officer Commander Chris Hollingworth said his ship and the men and women aboard had made ‘full use of an excellent international workout’.He said: ‘Exercise Tradewind is a key building block in ensuring HMS Medway’s preparation for Atlantic Patrol Task (North) Tasking.

‘It has exposed my crew to realistic scenarios and allowed us to work within a multinational task group. My team’s response to the training has been superb and has helped to build confidence in our ability ahead of real-world tasking.’