Bill Waters News

After five successful narcotic seizures in the Middle East and 203 days away from home, Royal Australian Navy frigate, HMAS Melbourne was welcomed back to her homeport of Sydney today. Around one thousand family and friends joined the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, and Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, CSC and Bar, RAN, to welcome the ship’s company home from duties as part of Operation MANITOU. Minister Payne said the 223 men and women on board have made their families and Australia proud. “Melbourne made a significant dent in the profits of smugglers running drugs for terrorists,” Minister Payne said. “The frigate seized 977 kg of heroin valued at approximately $390 million.

Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne is returning home to Australia after completing more than 50 boarding operations and seizing almost a tonne of heroin during a Middle Eastern deployment. The guided missile frigate handed over maritime security responsibilities to sister ship, HMAS Darwin, after five months of operations in support of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and more than six months away from home. Commander Bill Waters, Commanding Officer of Melbourne, commended the ship’s company of 223 officers and sailors for their commitment and efforts that ensured a successful deployment. “During the five months on operations we confiscated and destroyed 977 kilograms of high grade heroin seized from five different vessels suspected of smuggling illegal narcotics,” he said.

The crew of HMAS Melbourne have completed a fifth drug seizure for Operation MANITOU after seizing about 65kg of heroin from a dhow in the Indian Ocean. The hidden drugs were discovered when Melbourne’s boarding party search of the suspect vessel during Melbourne’s last maritime security patrol with the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) before handing over to HMAS Darwin and returning to Australia. The heroin was seized and transported onboard HMAS Melbourne for further analysis before it was then disposed at sea. Specialised equipment onboard the Australian Guided Missile Frigate identified the drugs as mid-grade heroin valued at approximately $50M AUD (based on Australian Crime Commission figures and revised for purity).

HMAS Melbourne has struck a third time against the trafficking of narcotics in the Middle East confiscating another 216 kilograms of high-grade heroin worth an estimated $64 million. The seizure takes the Royal Australian Navy’s narcotics haul since February 2014 to over 5 tonnes and to almost $664 million for 2015. Melbourne’s Commanding Officer, Commander Bill Waters, said the intercept was a great success for the ship and her boarding teams. “It also highlights the work of our support agencies ashore that provide us the vital intelligence needed to be in the right place at the right time,” he said. Commodore Jaimie Hatcher the Australian commander of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, which coordinated the support, praised the efforts of Melbourne.

HMAS Melbourne recently seized 151 kilograms of heroin worth an estimated $AUD44.5 million from a dhow off the east coast of Africa. The drug haul is the second for HMAS Melbourne’s current deployment to the Middle East region, bringing the total weight of heroin seized to more 578 kilograms in two months. Commander Joint Operations Command, Vice Admiral David Johnston said the haul raised the Royal Australian Navy’s 2015 drug seizures in the Middle East region to almost $600 million. HMAS Melbourne’s Commanding Officer Commander Bill Waters said the ship’s crew boarded a suspicious fishing vessel following surveillance which suggested the dhow might be engaged in illegal activity.

HMAS Melbourne’s crew has seized 427 kilograms of heroin hidden in a fishing dhow carrying the illegal drugs across the Indian Ocean. The intercept occurred during Melbourne’s first patrol of her current Operation MANITOU deployment to the Middle East Region assigned to the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). Illegal narcotics are a common source of funding for terrorist organisations and HMAS Melbourne’s Commanding Officer, Commander Bill Waters, said the drugs had an estimated Australian street value of at least AUD$126 million. “In 2015, Australian ships have seized nearly two tonnes of heroin while deployed to Middle Eastern waters,” he said. “This latest intercept shows our continuing vigilance is essential in the fight against terrorism.

The Royal Australian Navy Adelaide class frigate HMAS Melbourne fired two Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles as part of an operational training exercise reinforcing her war-fighting and mariner skills. The missiles were fired off the coast of New South Wales on June 24 against two unmanned aerial targets launched from the Beecroft Range at Jervis Bay. Melbourne’s MK-41 Vertical Launch System deployed the missiles, controlled in flight, resulting in a successful engagement with the target as part of her operational training program.

The Royal Australian Navy Adelaide class frigate, HMAS Melbourne, has successfully fired two Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles, reinforcing her war-fighting and mariner skills. The missile firings were conducted off the coast of New South Wales on 24 June against two unmanned aerial targets launched from the Beecroft Range at Jervis Bay. Melbourne’s MK-41 Vertical Launch System deployed the missiles, controlled in flight, resulting in a successful engagement with the target as part of her operational training program. Navy ships conduct mariner and war-fighting training all year round to prepare for operational duties and Commanding Officer Melbourne, Commander Bill Waters, said the firing proved the effectiveness of the frigate’s combat systems.