FIRST HELO-LANDING ON RSS ENDURANCE

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Joint Humanitarian Assistance Task Force (JHATF) made more headway in operations, with the flight deck of RSS Endurance now cleared to allow one Super Puma (SP) to land at any one time.

This is a significant step forward for air operations as it means that SPs can now refuel on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) anchored off the waters of Meulaboh, instead of flying to back to Banda Aceh and Medan.

"It means the SP can be more responsive and have a longer hover time. It can also possibly carry heavier loads, especially to the remote areas, since it can refuel on the LST," said LTC Chin Sau Ho, Head JHATF Info Centre.

An SP has an average of three hours in the air before it needs to refuel. The flight time to and from Medan or Banda Aceh from Meulaboh is over two hours - leaving less than an hour for actual operational flights in Meulaboh.

Sufficient space for the helo-pad was created in the evening on 4 Jan. It was made possible by the projection of vehicles ashore and the rearrangement of some of the 350 crates and pallets onboard.

The next step ahead is to clear enough space for a Chinook to land. LTC Chin expects this to be completed in the next three days. Currently, there are six Chinooks and two SPs in Indonesia, based in Medan.

The key focus of the JHATF now is to help facilitate entry to Meulaboh. The coastal town located in West Sumatra is totally cut off from surrounding areas, following the undersea earthquake and towering tsunami waves.

"What used to be inland roads have now become coastal roads, with huge sections of the town broken up," described LTC Chin, who did an aerial survey of the devastated town.

With this in mind, the JHATF hopes to establish a relief coordination centre and vehicle park holding area near the pier to assist others to project assets ashore.

They are already in touch with the Indonesian authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who may need logistical support to transport relief supplies.

An Indonesian LST has already sought help in unloading 10 dump-trucks that are onboard. The fast landing craft onboard RSS Endurance may be used to help in the transfer.

Besides being an avenue to facilitate relief efforts of others, the JHATF, on its part, has already pushed out the bulk of its heavy equipment that includes two dozers, one excavator, two power generators and a water purification unit.

The purification unit can churn out 500 litres of water in an hour, using reverse osmosis. The first batch of desalinated sea water has already been sent to the RSS Endurance medical centre to be tested if it is suitable for consumption.

Medical personnel and SAF construction engineers from the JHATF are also continuing with their relief work onshore.