Aussies & Kiwis working together

HMAS Melbourne has taken on an ANZAC-appearance in the Middle East thanks to the inclusion of Kiwi sailors to the ship’s crew. Three Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) personnel were deployed aboard the ship in 2015, which is patrolling the Middle East Region as part of Operation Manitou, the Australian contribution to the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).

Sub-Lieutenant (SBLT) Sophie Going, along with Leading Seaman (LS) Combat Specialists Jack Walters and Jordon McHugh, are contributing to the ship’s work in intercepting narcotics used to help fund international terrorism. Melbourne undertakes this maritime security operations work with CMF’s Combined Task Force 150 in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf.

SBLT Going said her posting to Melbourne as an Officer of the Watch was an extension to her 12-month posting to Australia for her Phase IV training, allowing her to gain operational experience. “Phase IV is the last stage of training for an Officer of the Watch,” she said. “It includes a month of studying warfare theory followed by five-months training in the bridge simulator at HMAS Watson before the final assessment.”

SBLT Going joined the RNZN in 2012 and has been to Australia on a previous posting to work on Armidale Class patrol boats. After more training in New Zealand on other ships, including the multirole vessel HMNZS Canterbury, she returned to Australia. SBLT Going said it was exciting to be a part of Operation Manitou and have the opportunity to be on a RAN warship.

“It’s also nice to have some other Kiwis onboard who will be able to soften the blow for the Aussies at the end of the World Cup,” she said. “The mission we are conducting on Melbourne is extremely important because we are helping to stop the trafficking of illegal drugs. “The first boardings and searches of suspected vessels were a highlight and it is exciting to be doing what we had been training to do.”

On Melbourne’s first patrol of 2015, the crew intercepted, boarded and searched a fishing dhow suspected of illegal activity in the Arabian Sea on 1 October 2015. During the search 427kg of heroin was seized and brought onboard for identification and disposal.

The value of the drugs was close $127M AUD. LS Walters and LS McHugh were posted to Melbourne in June in time for the ship’s workups in preparation for Operation Manitou. Their main role is to drive the sea boats used by the boarding parties and as their qualifications are equivalent to RAN boatswains they are only too happy to jump-in and help with the work where needed on the ship.

LS Walters said he was excited to visit Australian and work with his counterparts in the RAN on Melbourne. “It’s very special because this is 2015 and the Centenary of Anzac,” he said. “The spirit of 100 years of Australian and New Zealand forces working together is still going strong.”

LS Walters joined the RNZN in 2008, straight out of high school, and has spent most of his career at sea. He has travelled most of the Pacific Ocean including Australia, Hawaii, Guam and Asia and served on HMNZS Canterbury in South Samoa following the tsunami in 2009.

He then spent time on the Anzac-class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha. LS Walters said Operation Manitou was his first operational tour of the Middle East Region. “I am proud of the work we are doing stopping the funds for terrorism, and I have met some great people on Melbourne, who will be mates for life,” he said.

“The Aussies are top blokes and the way they have treated the New Zealanders onboard is a true testament to Australian hospitality.” LS McHugh is a former civilian dive instructor with a love of the sea and found the RNZN to be a natural fit for his desire for a career on the water.

He said his uncle, who was in the Navy, was the biggest influence on his decision to be a sailor. LS McHugh began his busy naval career in 2006 on the survey ship HMNZS Resolution. He then transferred to the tanker HMNZS Endeavour for a Pacific Rim trip, which visited Singapore for Exercise Bersuma Shield and then went to South Korea, Canada, the United States, Hawaii and Tahiti.

LS McHugh also worked on patrol boats before transferring to HMNZS Otago for fisheries patrols on two deployments to Antarctica during Operation Castle. He said it was a fantastic experience to be deployed to the Arabian Gulf on Melbourne. “The operation has been varied, which keeps sea life interesting and the crew is great,” he said.

“Operation Manitou has given us an opportunity to contribute to Combined Task Force 150 and prevent the trafficking of drugs which provide funds for terrorists.” Melbourne is on her eighth deployment to the Middle East Region and is the 61st rotation of a RAN vessel in the region since the first Gulf War in 1991.