HALIFAX — Two Canadian warships loaded with water, food, shovels and medical supplies steamed out of Halifax on Thursday to help in a massive humanitarian effort in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
About 500 crew members on board HMCS Halifax and HMCS Athabaskan waved and saluted officials dockside as they began a five-day journey that will take them to the devastated island nation for at least a month.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said other assets could be dispatched to the impoverished country as more information comes in about what is needed.
“There’s probably other things that will be required, but the key was to get out the door as quickly as possible,” he said on the jetty after seeing off the sailors, air crew and soldiers.
“The urgency was to get the personnel there.”
It’s expected the crew, along with a Sea King helicopter on the destroyer Athabaskan, will help search through some of the untold number of collapsed buildings, remove rubble and supply basic provisions.
MacKay said the vessels were carrying clothing, food, water purification systems, blankets, tents, water and construction materials.
But he expects they’ll also need crowbars, axes and the jaws of life as they work through endless piles of concrete and slabs from buildings demolished by the magnitude-7.0 quake Tuesday.
“This is sort of a rolling effort to mobilize the various assets and we will update and keep evergreen the necessity to perhaps deploy other assets,” he said.
Rear Admiral Paul Maddison, commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic, said it’s not yet clear how the vessels will get into Haiti since the main port in Port-Au-Prince was damaged.
He said the Sea King will be used to ferry goods into and around the country, but that they may call on other countries’ landing craft to get people and goods ashore.
“We’ve done this before in Op Katrina a few years ago,” he said, referring to the navy’s operations in Louisiana following hurricane Katrina.
“It’s the same sort of relationship ... in terms of sharing assets in order to deliver the best combined effect for those who are vulnerable.”
The frigate Halifax was en route to the Caribbean for exercises when it was suddenly diverted back to port to regroup for the mission, with crew restocking the vessel through the night.
Leading seaman Jamie Langer said he was looking forward to the work, despite having little notice of the change in plans.
“I’m actually excited,” the 25-year-old boatswain said from the deck, adding that he knew little about what he would be doing. “This is my first big trip and I want to go and help out.”
Meanwhile, a Canadian C-17 military transport, loaded with provisions and personnel, touched down in Port-Au-Prince after leaving Canadian Forces Base Trenton earlier Thursday.
A reconnaissance unit from the military’s Disaster Assistance Response Team, along with a team of federal officials, are in Haiti conducting assessments prior to deployment of the team’s full contingent and a broader distribution of resources.