§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of the Ocean Wave deployment; what assessment he has made of the benefits and value of it; and what military tasks were not carried out because of the involvement of personnel in it. [71939]
§ Mr. SpellarOcean Wave was the deployment of a Royal Navy Task Group to the Gulf, Far East and Asia Pacific regions between 13 January and 28 August 1997.
Clear military and strategic objectives were set for the Task Group prior to the deployment. Ocean Wave demonstrated the UK's continued commitment to the Asia-Pacific region after the hand-over of Hong Kong. It underlined our interest in the promotion of regional peace and stability, the protection of freedom of international trade, and promoted bilateral relations by the joint working between military forces in the Asia-Pacific region. There was also considerable benefit to the UK defence industry.
In addition, the Royal Navy were able to test their readiness and to assess how well equipment, procedures and personnel stand up in a realistic scenario with integrated forces. Such interactive training is achievable only when a number of diverse assets are deployed together over a prolonged period.
The additional costs directly attributable to Ocean Wave were about £9.8 million. The main elements of this additional sum were port and harbour dues, Suez Canal transit fees, operational support, additional fuel costs, local overseas allowances, ships taken up from trade and travel subsistence.
Planning for Ocean Wave commenced 2½ years prior to the deployment taking place, so that we were able to ensure that all routine or contingent tasks were also undertaken.