- Publika iha: 29 Agosto 2023
Navigation Officer Gravenson of the HMS Spey, part of the Royal British Navy, encouraged female members of Timor-Leste’s Defence Forces F-FDTL Navy to aim to become commanders, navigation officers, and boat operators.
She added as a navigation officer, her job is to ensure the HMS Spey is navigating properly and to check the conditions of the sea. When they were told by their captain they would be coming to Dili, Timor-Leste, from Brisbane, in Australia, her job was to map the route they would follow to reach Dili.
“I have been working on a boat for eight years, and during this time I felt there has been very good gender equality. I believe in the military there is equality between women and men. Women have better intellectual and emotional ability to work together and seek to work as part of a team,” she said while explaining the job of a navigation officer to Timorese journalists visiting the HMS Spey, at the Port of Dili recently.
She added the crew work in three rotations, so they need three teams to operate the HMS Spey. And as part of their rotation, the crew works three month inside the boat at sea, then spend one month in the UK on leave. Usually they would have 75 members in their crew but this time there were only 50 crew.
She said there are 20 female sailors as part of the crew. And, if during a rotation, the commander, the navigation officer, and the boat operator are all female, the chain of command is entirely female.
Meantime, the Commander of HMS Spey, Lt Cdr Matthew Milliard, said the objective of the visit was for cultural exchange with Timorese sailors and local students. HMS Spey has operated in the Indo-Pacific region for the past five years together with its twin vessel, the HMS Tamar, and they work alongside allies and partner nations to address all types of security challenges. They also support nations deal with the impacts of climate change.
“Our vessels have not visited Dili in 20 years. My crew and I are very happy to have this cultural experience in a beautiful nation such as Timor-Leste. This visit allows us to buy some souvenirs and to re-fuel our vessel so that the HMS Spey can continue its mission in the Asia-Pacific region. We are very happy with the hospitality we received from the Timorese people,” he said.
He added the HMS Spey is an environmentally friendly vessel equipped with filters that capture and reduce CO2 emissions. And during the past two years they have patrolled Indo-Pacific waters to combat unregulated, unreported, and illegal fishing.
He hopes the HMS Spey will visit Timor-Leste more regularly in future.