The Royal Navy announced that Portsmouth-based warship HMS Dauntless sails on Wednesday, April 4, for a six-month routine deployment to the South Atlantic, relieving HMS Montrose that is on her way back home.
Peruvian president Ollanta Humala supported Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo following the impasse with the British embassy in Lima that strongly criticized the last minute cancelling of the protocol visit of HMS Montrose to El Callao.
Peruvian ministers openly disagreed over the recent decision to turn back the Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose, in solidarity with Argentina and its sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.
During a live press conference on Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernández thanked “the Peruvian government and population” for their decision to leave without effect the scheduled, but controversial, visit of a British frigate “in support of the Argentine sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands.”
Peruvian Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo denied President Ollanta Humala had accepted an invitation to visit London next month, Lima’s El Comercio reported Tuesday in the front page.
In a display of “Latin American support for Argentina’s legitimate rights,” the Peruvian government announced on Monday its decision to render void the protocol visit of a British frigate scheduled to dock in a Peruvian port this week.
The Royal Navy HMS Montrose has entered icy waters on the latest leg of its deployment in the South Atlantic. This latest stage of Montrose’s six-month trip has taken it to the edge of the ice fields to the extreme south of the Earth, reports Montrose Review.
The Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose”, with a crew of 185 made a several days patrol visit to South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, GSSI, waters in December.
Thirteen cruise vessels visited South Georgia last December including new vessel “L'Austral” which, in line with usual practice, was joined by a Government Observer to look at the ship's operation, passenger management and bio-security procedures, reports the South Georgia Newsletter.
HMS Montrose has visited Ascension Island as part of her mission to promote British interests in the South Atlantic over the coming months. Ascension supports the airbridge which provides the vital link between the UK and MPA in the Falkland Islands, seat of British forces in the South Atlantic.