165 Port & Maritime Regiment take to the water

Soldiers from 165 Port and Maritime Regiment Royal Logistic Corps have recently been on Ex Mulbery Leader 2, an Annual Deployment Exercise, say the British Army.

According to a British Army release on the exercise, one part of the exercise saw reservists at Browndown Beach, Southampton preparing the beach for the Mexeflote powered raft to approach and off-load/load vehicles. For many of the reservists involved this was the first time they had used the platform to move vehicles between the beach and a ‘Roll On-Roll Off ferry’ anchored in the Solent.

Staff Sergeant Ivor Farrell, Acting Coxswain, was responsible for transferring the vehicles and equipment between shore and the ferry. He said:

“There are many different challenges we have to consider when operating the Mexeflote but probably the biggest one faced is obviously the weather conditions as these will directly impact on our ability to discharge the assets onto the beach.

Communication and teamwork is also a key skill that the crew need to develop. With the vessel fully laden the engineer is unable to see the beach or the skipper giving direction so we rely on a system of hand signals to convey direction, so working together as one to ensure a successful landing is imperative.”