Mare Harbour, known colloquially as East Cove Port, is a small settlement on East Falkland, on Choiseul Sound. It is mostly used as a port facility and depot for RAF Mount Pleasant, as well as a deepwater port used by the Royal Navy ships patrolling the South Atlantic and Antarctica, which means that the main harbour of the islands, Stanley Harbour, tends to deal with commercial transport.
During the 1982 Falklands War, Mare Harbour was considered as one of the potential sites for a British amphibious landing but the British landings took place on San Carlos Water in the west of East Falkland, on Falkland Sound. Mare Harbour was considered open to air attack.
In the latter 2010s, Mare Harbour berths were improved with a £22 million investment. The improvements enhanced the roll-on/roll-off jetty, used by the Ministry of Defence's Point-class sealift ships which call about once every six to eight weeks, and upgraded other facilities at Mare Harbour, including fire-fighting services.
The facilities now incorporate several berths including: the main jetty, roro jetty, west jetty (principally used to berth the Royal Navy's Falkland Islands patrol vessel HMS Forth) and the main jetty (inner) (used to berth a multi-purpose barge (MP2003) and two harbour tugs (Giesenstroom and Dintelstroom), from the contracted Netherlands Marine Services company Van Wijngaarden). In April 2024, Giesenstroom was tasked to assist the Panamanian-flagged reefer, MV Frio Chikumo, after the ship ran aground off the Falkland Islands.
The British Antarctic Survey ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough and the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship, HMS Protector, use the port during the regional summer while the Falklands Government patrol vessel, FPV Lilibet, may also call at the port periodically for fueling. Troops from the Royal Logistic Corps (460 (Port) Troop) provide cargo handling services at the port.
A daily bus service runs between Mare Harbour and Mount Pleasant.
See also
References
- Falkland Islands Portal. "Defence". Archived from the original on 26 April 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2006.
- Bicheno, Hugh (2006) Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-7538-2186-2
- "Defence Secretary sees brighter future on Falklands visit". 17 February 2016.
- @NavyLookout (24 September 2024). "@NavyLookout MV Anvil Point - performing the Falklands Island Resupply Ship (FIRS) role has arrived at East Cove Military Port" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 September 2024 – via Twitter.
- Childs (RN), Cdr J R (June 2021). "British Forces South Atlantic Islands East Cove Port Navigation Risk Assessment 2021" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- "Falklands: FIRS, the supply link between UK and Mount Pleasant Complex". Merco Press. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- "Falklands' Mare Harbour Ro-Ro facility upgraded for Point Class vessels". Merco Press. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- Childs (RN), Cdr J R (June 2021). "British Forces South Atlantic Islands East Cove Port Navigation Risk Assessment 2021" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- @NavyLookout (8 April 2024). "@NavyLookout The tug Geissenstroom operated on behalf of @BFSouthAtlantic succ essfully recovered MV Frio Chikumo - a Panamanian-flagged reefer that grounded off the Falkland Islands after it dragged anchor last week" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 April 2024 – via Twitter.
- @NavyLookout (1 January 2024). "@NavyLookout.@hmsprotector is now in Antarctica at the start of the summer season" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via Twitter.
- Childs (RN), Cdr J R (June 2021). "British Forces South Atlantic Islands East Cove Port Navigation Risk Assessment 2021" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
External links
- James Rogers and Luis Simón. The Status and Location of the Military Installations of the Member States of the European Union and Their Potential Role for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Brussels: European Parliament, 2009. 25 pp.
51°53′57″S 58°27′21″W / 51.8992°S 58.4559°W / -51.8992; -58.4559
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