HMS Newcastle Docks At Tema

The British Destroyer HMS Newcastle arrived at Tema docks yesterday as part of its five and a half month patrol of the South Atlantic, having just sailed from Sierra Leone.

The anti-air warfare vessel is the oldest in the Royal Navy fleet and has seen action in the Falklands, the Gulf, Bosnia and most recently Kosovo. On Monday it will conduct a series of exercises with members of the Ghanaian Navy before sailing on to Lagos, and later the Southwest Atlantic and the Caribbean.

The primary stated mission of the patrol is "to demonstrate Her Majesty's Government's commitment to the stability and security of the Northern and Southern Atlantic regions." The British High Commissioner, Rod Pullen, explained, though, that the visit should be seen as one part of the 'partnership' between the developed and the developing world that Tony Blair placed so much emphasis on during his stay in Ghana almost two months ago. As part of the exercises, the Newcastle's two hundred and sixty personnel will conduct training on how to fulfill not only the nominal task of the defence of the Ghana seas, but also peacekeeping duties and, perhaps more specifically, the protection and regulation of fishing and off-shore mining rights. This in particular is seen as an important role that the Ghanaian Navy will have to play in support of the country's development as a whole.

The visit, Mr. Pullen said, symbolises and builds upon Britain's belief in partnerships "between countries that share a commitment to democracy and human rights." He mentioned that the small core of British military experts resident at the Staff and Command Training College in Accra, who have helped to establish the school as a centre of excellence primarily for peacekeeping duties, also includes one Naval officer.

The Newcastle is the first command of Commander Steve Pearson, and is a ship designed to provide air defence support in a number of different types of operations. Commissioned in 1978, the ship will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary in the city whose name it bears next year, before being replaced by the new type 45 destroyer sometime around 2007. Whilst on shore leave for the weekend the crew has planned a number of sporting events, which the Captain said they, "are especially looking forward to," as well as some community building projects.