U.S. warships heading for Sumatra
U.S. warships heading for Sumatra
Agencies, Jakarta/Singapore/Sydney/Moscow
A U.S. aircraft carrier group was headed for Indonesia's tsunami-
hit Aceh province on Thursday and several other U.S. military
ships were on course to the Bay of Bengal to help with relief
operations, officials said.
The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and four other vessels will be
stationed off Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island where
the death toll from Sunday's earthquake and tsunami has risen
past 79,000.
Another group of seven U.S. military ships, including a
helicopter carrier, steamed for the Bay of Bengal in the Indian
Ocean.
Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, joint chiefs of staff director of
operations, told a briefing in Washington late on Wednesday the
Lincoln group had 12 helicopters on board, "which we find
extremely valuable in these types of scenarios".
Conway, according to a transcript given to Reuters by the U.S.
embassy in Jakarta, said a U.S. assessment team was expected in
Aceh on Thursday.
Teams had already been dispatched to Thailand and Sri Lanka,
also hard hit by the tsunami that has killed more than 118,000
people across the region.
Conway also said the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike
Group of seven vessels, which had been in Guam -- in the Pacific
Ocean -- had been diverted to the Bay of Bengal, where it would
arrive before Jan. 7.
"These five ships have fresh-water-producing capability. Each
ship can produce 90,000 gallons of fresh water a day, and of
course that'll be extremely valuable as we have a number of
requests already for fresh-water supply," Conway said.
He said a sixth ship with a field hospital was also headed to
the region.
Singapore threw relief operations into high gear for tsunami-
hit parts of Asia on Thursday, dispatching more helicopters and
medical teams to affected areas in what is the city-state's
biggest-ever overseas military operation.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the forces' commitment,
which will involve around 700 air force, army and naval
personnel, was costing S$10 million (US$6.1 million) a week. In
an evening briefing in Singapore, Lee also said the country's
death toll now stood at 7, up from 3.
"It's a somber end to an eventful year. The death toll is
horrific," Lee said. "We've never done anything on this scale
before."
Australia said on Thursday it was sending a warship loaded
with helicopters and a military field hospital to Indonesia to
help with disaster relief efforts.
Prime Minister John Howard said the HMAS Kanimbla would depart
from Sydney on Saturday to Indonesia for what he believed would
be a lengthy deployment in the disaster zone.
He said an Antonov aircraft loaded with three Iroquois
helicopters would also arrive in Indonesia on Monday.
"There is a desperate need for uplift capacity and helicopters
are badly needed," he told reporters.
Five Australian aircraft and one from New Zealand are already
ferrying supplies into the Indonesian province of Aceh, the area
worst hit by Sunday's tsunamis.
Meanwhile, two Russian cargo aircraft took off on early
Thursday for Sri Lanka and Thailand, carrying humanitarian aid
for victims of the massive tidal waves that struck on the
weekend, the emergencies ministry told the ITAR-TASS news agency.
A plane heading for Sri Lanka, one of the countries worst-hit
by Sunday's tsunamis, was carrying 60 large tents, 7,000 bed
linen packs, two water cleansing machines, drinking water and
disinfectants, amounting to 20 tonnes, the report said.
The Thailand-bound plane was packed with 3,560 liters of
drinking water as well as medical teams and rescue workers from
the Volga and Urals regional emergency ministry. It would carry
about 150 Russian tourists back to Russia on its return trip, it
said.
Moscow has already dispatched two planes to Sri Lanka and
plans to send aid to Indonesia.