MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

HMS Protector heading for Antarctica after surveying Tristan da Cunha waters

The Ice patrol conducted the first systematic survey of the Islands since 1970 (Photo MoD)

The Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Protector on her route to the Falklands and Antarctica, has visited the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha to conduct the first systematic survey of the British Overseas Territory since the 1970s.

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is the main settlement on Tristan da Cunha. It was forced to evacuate its entire population to England following a volcanic eruption in 1961.

In 1962 a Royal Society expedition visited the islands to assess the damage and reported that the settlement had only been marginally affected. Most families returned to Edinburgh in 1963.

Although Edinburgh remained habitable, the 1961 eruption badly affected the waters surrounding the settlement, leaving them particularly hazardous for navigation and in need of surveying.

In the first survey of the area to be conducted using modern techniques, HMS Protector used her motorboat and onboard systems to make a multi-beam echo sounder survey of the Edinburgh Anchorages.

The territory is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying 2.816km from the nearest land, South Africa, and 3.360km from South America.

It consists of the main island of Tristan da Cunha itself - which measures 11km across - along with the uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible Island and Gough Island. It has a permanent population of 275.

During her three-day visit, HMS Protector also conducted a fishery protection patrol around the islands. Her presence reaffirms the UK's commitment to the area and in this instance also provides a tangible survey product for the local people and economies.

Captain Peter Sparkes, HMS Protector's Commanding Officer, said: “it is a genuine pleasure and privilege for HMS Protector and the Royal Navy to be able to help in making the waters around Tristan da Cunha safer for all seafarers; we are delighted to be here.”

From Tristan da Cunha HMS Protector will begin her passage to the Antarctica