UK sends military ship to Tonga to offer humanitarian aid

The Navy of United Kingdom will send the military patrol boat “HMS Spey” to Tonga, who was on a mission in Polynesia, to collaborate with the humanitarian aid work after the tsunami and the volcanic eruption that has affected that South Pacific archipelago, the British Foreign Ministry announced today.

LOOK: Government of Tonga requests urgent assistance from the UN

The UK will also send water supplies, tents and protective equipment on board the Australian Navy ship “HMAS Adelaide”, which will set sail today for Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga.

• The first humanitarian aid planes arrive in Tonga 5 days after the volcano eruption and subsequent tsunami
• First humanitarian aid planes take off for Tonga
• Over 80% of Tonga’s population affected by volcano eruption and tsunami

The British Government has fully financed the shipment on the Australian ship of 17 pallets with material requested by the Government of Tonga, a group of more than 170 islands where around 105,000 people reside, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (Commonwealth) formally headed by Queen Elizabeth II of England.

“UK supplies and technical expertise will provide urgent assistance to Tonga. We will work together with Australia to promote a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

The head of the Foreign Office is in Australia together with the British Defense Minister, Ben Wallace, on a visit with the aim of strengthening ties with Canberra in the field of security.

The UK “stands ready to support what has been our long-standing Commonwealth partner,” Wallace said.

In addition to direct aid, London has offered to finance the dispatch of UN crisis experts to work with the Tongan authorities and coordinate the international response in the archipelago.

Elizabeth II has sent a message of condolence to the King of Tonga, Tupou VI, after the disaster, which has caused at least three deaths and extensive devastation.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tonga,” the British sovereign said in that message. The situation “must be incredibly difficult for all those who cannot contact their friends and family, while communications are cut off,” says the queen.

• Tsunami: How long will Tonga be incommunicado due to the rupture of the submarine cable?
• New images showing the destruction left by the eruption and subsequent tsunami in Tonga
• Tonga volcano: why the eruption that triggered a tsunami in the South Pacific was so violent
• The miracle of Tonga, with a single case of covid-19, in danger due to the volcano
• Shocking videos of the tsunami in Tonga, from inside the wave and from space

Deshawn