UK — HMS Ocean on amphibious exercise with Brazilian Marines

The Roy­al Navy’s amphibi­ous heli­copter car­ri­er HMS Ocean has arrived in Rio de Janeiro today, Thurs­day 9 Sep­tem­ber, to take part in an amphibi­ous exer­cise with the Brazil­ian Navy and Marines and to con­duct high pro­file diplo­mat­ic engage­ments.

HMS Ocean off the Caribbean island of Trinidad Source: Min­istry of Defence, UK Click to enlarge

Brazil­ian Marines from the 3rd infantry bat­tal­ion of the 1st Amphibi­ous Divi­sion will join HMS Ocean and the Roy­al Marines of 539 Assault Squadron for a three-day train­ing exercise. 

They will be prac­tis­ing amphibi­ous drills and shar­ing expe­ri­ences from recent oper­a­tions. Mean­while, sailors from the Brazil­ian war­ship Rio de Janeiro will also embark onboard HMS Ocean to build under­stand­ing and co-oper­a­tion between the two navies. 

HMS Ocean will then return to Rio de Janeiro to host a UK Trade and Indus­try exhi­bi­tion, a recep­tion for local dig­ni­taries and a bilat­er­al secu­ri­ty sem­i­nar cul­mi­nat­ing in the sign­ing of a UK/Brazil Defence Co-oper­a­tion Agree­ment and a for­mal din­ner for 150 guests onboard. 

The sem­i­nar will be attend­ed by Ger­ald Howarth, the British Min­is­ter for Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Strat­e­gy, who will sign the agree­ment on behalf of the British Gov­ern­ment and host the din­ner. Dur­ing the week in Rio sailors and Roy­al Marines from the ship will help with com­mu­ni­ty projects. 

Cap­tain Kei­th Blount, HMS Ocean’s Com­mand­ing Offi­cer, said: 

“This vis­it to Rio is very impor­tant for the Roy­al Navy and we are extreme­ly proud to be work­ing along­side the Brazil­ian Navy and Marines, enhanc­ing our abil­i­ty to oper­ate togeth­er any­where in the world while also demon­strat­ing the UK’s com­mit­ment to the region. 

“Our abil­i­ty to engage and work with oth­er navies and mar­itime agen­cies world­wide is an essen­tial part of what navies do and is vital in con­flict pre­ven­tion and build­ing trust. 

“We are look­ing for­ward to sup­port­ing Britain’s Trade and Indus­try exhi­bi­tion and feel priv­i­leged to be host­ing such an impor­tant secu­ri­ty sem­i­nar and din­ner. And, of course, our sailors are absolute­ly thrilled to have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to vis­it such a won­der­ful city.” 

HMS Ocean’s ver­sa­til­i­ty has been ful­ly exploit­ed since leav­ing the UK three months ago. The ship has just com­plet­ed a mar­itime and secu­ri­ty patrol in the Caribbean after a major exer­cise with the US Navy off North Carolina. 

Press release
Min­istry of Defence, UK 

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