Richmond parties - for serious reasons

SOME people in this photograph are taking part in a four-day party in an island paradise.

That’s right, it’s the ship’s company of HMS Richmond (they’re the ones in whites…).

Sailors from the Portsmouth Type 23 frigate took a break from clamping down on piracy for a few days’ break in Seychelles.

The warship’s visit to the islands coincided with the inaugural Carnival International de Victoria (translation’s fairly easy…) which saw more than 20 nations represented in some form.

In Blighty’s case there was a steel band from Notting Hill and Richmond’s ship’s company (posing here with an Indonesian dance troupe).

The carnival is intended to bolster visitor numbers in the Seychelles – tourism is the largest single contributor to their economy and has been affected by what Richmond’s CO Capt Mike Walliker calls “the scourge of piracy”.

The fiesta proved to be a display of vibrant colour, loud music and went down well with locals and visitors who partied long into the night (the matelots, of course, grabbed an early night…).

The steel band were also invited aboard Richmond where they performed the National Anthem during a ceremonial sunset.

Also in harbour was the Indian warship INS Sukanya, whose sailors challenged Richmond to a game of Twenty20 cricket. Played on an ‘unusual’ (good naval euphemism for ‘awful’) pitch under the blazing sun, the contest was won by the team which scored a lot more runs than the other (ie the Brits lost…).

The frigate’s stop-off in the Seychelles was not all about partying and sport, of course. Aside from giving the ship’s company a break, it also allowed them to share their experiences tackling piracy with the local coast guard.

While the warship was berthed in Port Victoria, several members of the ship’s company climb aboard Seychelles patrol craft to carry out maintenance on their engines and weapons systems.

“The Seychelles is at the heart of the struggle to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean,” explained Capt Mike Walliker.

“Piracy’s effect on both the tourist and fishing industry has been marked. The international carnival aimed to send a message worldwide that the Seychelles is a beautiful and safe tourist destination.

“My ship’s company were overwhelmed by the hospitality shown us.”

Richmond is reaching the half-way point of a lengthy deployment east of Suez which so far has been focused on a mix of counter-piracy and escort duties, shepherding aid ships into Somalia to deliver food.