Photo: The Royal Australian Navy
One of the most serious consequences of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tonga archipelago in the middle of January was a power outage that lasted for days. Ironically, that’s also what the Royal Australian Navy ship that was providing humanitarian aid, suffered. HMAS Adelaide faced a power outage yesterday, while it was operating near Tonga.
HMAS Adelaide had a string of bad luck at the beginning of this year. While on its way to the disaster-hit island nation, it was first affected by an epidemic outbreak, by January 25. Next, the Australian Department of Defense confirmed that the vessel recently suffered a power outage. The situation is under control now, with civilian specialists on their way, in order to assess the affected systems.
Wanting to clear some of the misinformation that was circulating, the DoD stated that back-up power had been effectively activated and that neither food supplies, nor the refrigeration and sanitation systems, have been affected, and that air conditioning was also operational on most parts of the ship. In other words, the power outage wasn’t as damaging as some of the media reported, and the Navy vessel will be able to continue its support operations for the Tonga government.
Because of the epidemic outbreak onboard, HMAS Adelaide has provided humanitarian relief without any personnel leaving its decks. According to The Age, the three helicopters that it carries were deployed for contactless delivery of supplies.
HMAS Adelaide is an amphibious assault ship, also known as Landing Helicopter Docks (LHD), which are the largest ships ever built for the Australian Navy. They are considered one of the world’s most advanced amphibious air-land-sea deployment systems. HMAS Adelaide III is also equipped with advanced radars, communication capabilities, and surveillance systems, plus defensive systems. In addition to helicopters, it also features purpose-built watercraft for transporting troops and supplies in places with no fixed port facilities.
The Australian DoD also stated that the onboard personnel’s safety remains the highest priority. After all, they must first be safe in order to be able to help the people of Tonga.
Wanting to clear some of the misinformation that was circulating, the DoD stated that back-up power had been effectively activated and that neither food supplies, nor the refrigeration and sanitation systems, have been affected, and that air conditioning was also operational on most parts of the ship. In other words, the power outage wasn’t as damaging as some of the media reported, and the Navy vessel will be able to continue its support operations for the Tonga government.
Because of the epidemic outbreak onboard, HMAS Adelaide has provided humanitarian relief without any personnel leaving its decks. According to The Age, the three helicopters that it carries were deployed for contactless delivery of supplies.
HMAS Adelaide is an amphibious assault ship, also known as Landing Helicopter Docks (LHD), which are the largest ships ever built for the Australian Navy. They are considered one of the world’s most advanced amphibious air-land-sea deployment systems. HMAS Adelaide III is also equipped with advanced radars, communication capabilities, and surveillance systems, plus defensive systems. In addition to helicopters, it also features purpose-built watercraft for transporting troops and supplies in places with no fixed port facilities.
The Australian DoD also stated that the onboard personnel’s safety remains the highest priority. After all, they must first be safe in order to be able to help the people of Tonga.
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