§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which warships will be in the Caribbean on anti-drugs patrol from mid-November to mid-February. [16549]
§ Mr. IngramCounter-drugs patrols in the Caribbean theatre of operation are undertaken by the RN as one task of the Atlantic Patrol Task (North) duty ship.
As is standard operating procedure, no RN ship will be deployed to the Caribbean between mid-November and mid-February although a ship will be held in the UK on reduced notice to deploy to the Caribbean area of operations. Royal Fleet Auxiliary Gold Rover will, however, remain in the region throughout this period and will provide additional presence and assistance to ships of other nations in the Caribbean involved in the counter-drugs effort.