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.