Operations

HMCS Regina and HMCS Winnipeg set sail to participate in RIMPAC and Operations

Julia Lennips August 10, 2020

0 2 minutes read

See below for cutlines on above images

HMCS Regina and HMCS Winnipeg departed Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt as they set sail to Hawaii for the 27th biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).

After RIMPAC, HMCS Winnipeg will sail on to participate in Operation Projection and Operation NEON in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Working alongside our allies and partners in international solidarity and in support of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and across the region, the Canadian Armed Forces will help bolster the integrity of the global sanctions regime against North Korea as it holds to account those whose actions violate UNSC (United Nations Security Council) resolutions,” says Sub-Lieutenant Michaël X. Déry, public affairs officer, Joint Task Force Pacific.

Families and friends gather to say their farewell and following seas to crew members of HMCS Regina and HMCS Winnipeg as they sail past the Greater Victoria Shoreline en route to Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) August 6, 2020. Captain Simon Wilson, ACSO, 443 Maritime Helicopter (MH) Squadron, Canadian Armed Forces.

Last week the ships were operating in Constance Bay before they departed for the exercise. They sailed past the Greater Victoria shoreline on August 5, 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/RoyalCanadianNavy/videos/503568447148765/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARA0C3jxpjKFt3tFJIevSfiTl9wia-2IPVgjc1kq866AIHc_AWcGATtlo9rzeEjkrIn3MOYgu6It8kvK

27th Biennial RIMPAC

Due to COVID-19, this year’s RIMPAC has been scaled back significantly, but it is still the largest naval multinational exercise. The exercise runs from August 17 to August 31.

Once the exercise is complete, HMCS Regina will return to CFB Esquimalt while HMCS Winnipeg will continue onto Operation Projection and Operation Neon.

HMCS Regina Pre RIMPAC: Crewmembers aboard HMCS REGINA haul in the hawser as the ship sails from its homeport of Esquimalt, British Columbia ahead of Exercise RIMPAC 2020, July 31, 2020. Photo: MS Dan Bard, Canadian Forces Combat Camera, Canadian Armed Forces.

Operation Projection

During Operation Projection, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members are operating in maritime environments worldwide. The members are working to make the world more secure and enhance relationships with Canada’s allies and partners.

The CAF conducts training, exercises, and engagements with foreign navies and other international security partners during Operation Projection. The CAF also supports NATO Maritime Command, U.S. Naval Forces, and other allied operations during the operation.

During the operation, HMCS Winnipeg will be sailing in the Asia-Pacific region before she participates in Operation Neon.

HMCS WINNIPEG arrives in Busan, South Korea on June 26, 2017 during POSEIDON CUTLASS 17. Photo: Cpl Stuart MacNeil, courtesy of Combat Camera.

Operation Neon

Previously conducted under Operation Projection Asia-Pacific, Operation Neon is Canada’s contribution to co-ordinated multinational effort to support the UN Security Council sanctions imposed against North Korea.

The UN sanctions, imposed between 2006 and 2017, aim to pressure North Korea to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and respond to North Korean nuclear weapon tests and ballistic missile launches.

Since early June 2019, the renewed CAF contribution to the multinational effort to counter United Nations Security Council sanctions evasion includes:

- - A CP-140 Aurora
  - Crew,
  - Supporting personnel operating from Japan, and
  - Up to three CAF members embedded permanently into the Enforcement Coordination Cell within the multinational staff Headquarters.

HMCS Winnipeg will join the international maritime monitoring mission this month, August 2020.