| Print | Close Window | AMO Currents - Posted: January 6, 2011 |
HSV 2 Swift delivers to Haiti and Chile for Southern Partnership Station 2011
SPS is an annual deployment of multiple specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command area of focus in the Caribbean and Central America. The primary goal of the mission is information sharing with navies, coast guards and civilian services throughout the region. The Swift, operated by Sealift LLC and manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers, has participated in five SPS missions over the last three years.
Swift's first stop was in Haiti, delivering a 40-ton mobile medical clinic and 39 pallets of water filters through Project Handclasp, a Navy program that accepts and transports donated goods.
"We were happy to start out this mission with Haiti," said Capt. Rhett Mann, civilian master on the Swift. "Swift's ramp and cargo-handling structure make it one of only a few feasible platforms for transporting the mobile medical clinic."
From Haiti, Swift sailed to Concepcion, Chile, close to the epicenter of a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck in February 2010. The military personnel onboard the Swift painted temporary houses and made subject-matter exchanges in security, medicine and civil affairs with local military and government agencies.
Swift also stopped in Puerto Valparaiso, Chile for the 7th Expo Naval, an international exhibition and conference of naval defense technologies, equipment and services. During the conference, Swift hosted a group of senior officers and distinguished visitors from China's People's Liberation Army navy and other foreign navies and coast guards.
"Swift has been a great experience," Dixon said. "I've worked with a lot of great people, made a lot of important deliveries and worked a wide range of mission types. It's been a very rewarding vessel to work on and I look forward to the continued success of the platform."
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