[LINK] Send HMAS Choules for Typhoon Relief

[Tom Worthington]

I suggest the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, order landing ship 
HMAS Choules to deploy for relief operations after Typhoon Haiyan.

Reports on the effect of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) have been slow to 
arrive due to the severity of the event: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Haiyan_%282013%29

Reports through my colleagues at the Sahana Foundation and the Global 
Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) are indicating the 
severity of the situation in the Philippines: 
http://vosocc.unocha.org/rss/vo_2455gzwe.html

Many government staff and emergency workers are themselves causalities. 
Debris block roads, electricity supply is limited, as is fuel, vehicle 
tires, food, clean drinking water. Maintenance of law and order is also 
an issue.

In 2011 landing ship HMAS Choules (former RFA Largs Bay) was 
commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFA_Largs_Bay_%28L3006%29

Choules has a flight deck for heavy Chinook helicopters and two 2 
Mexeflote powered rafts to transfer cargo to shore. Choules also has a 
diesel/electric propulsion system, which may also be of use for 
supplying on-shore power.

There were early problems with Choules, but these have been overcome an 
it performed well in recent military exercises. The Australian 
government should now make urgent preparations, should Choules be 
required for Typhoon Haiyan relief operations.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/