Indian Ocean RAS - The Type 23 Frigate SUTHERLAND met with, carried out a RAS (Replenishment at Sea) with the Fleet Tanker RFA WAVE RULER in the Indian Ocean.        At any one time around half a dozen warships are assigned to the international mission directed by the Combined Maritime Forces based in Bahrain, working in two distinct task forces:

·         CTF 150 (counter-terrorism/smuggling)

and

·         CTF 151 (counter-piracy)

The mission spread across two and a half million square miles of ocean – more than eight times the size of the North Sea.      With warships typically cruising at 14kts, it takes five days to sail from the Strait of Hormuz to the Seychelles – the task has been likened to trying to cover an area the size of Western Europe with half a dozen police cars travelling at 30mph.