Latest news with #RoyalFleetAuxiliary
Times
18-07-2025
- General
- Times
After freezing dead Somali pirates running ports company will be plain sailing
Clearing a food freezer for the bodies of dead pirates isn't a typical day at work for most people. For Captain Susan Cloggie-Holden, it was a grim necessity while sailing off Somalia, and just one of many 'salty sea tales' from a career that has taken her around the world. A passion for messing about in small boats on the River Clyde as a teenager morphed into supporting peacekeeping operations in hostile seas, as well as being chased by elephant seals on a remote island in the South Atlantic. Thankfully the 42-year-old did not inherit the seasickness that made her father feel queasy, even when using the Renfrew ferry. Cloggie-Holden has just become the first woman to be group harbour master at Peel Ports Group after a decorated career in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). In the RFA she was also the first female to become a commanding officer when in 2021 she took charge of Tiderace, a replenishment tanker for Royal Navy warships. Raised in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow, Cloggie-Holden found her calling when she joined the Sea Cadets in Clydebank. 'Pretty much every summer I used to spend on boats somewhere,' she said. 'I think I gave my parents an easy ride because they didn't see me all summer, I'd come home, get my washing done, pack my bag and go off again.' A two-week stint on the tall ship Stavros S Niarchos as it sailed from Greenock to Aberdeen cemented her ocean ambitions. By her fifth year at Bearsden Academy she had decided against university and was set on going to Glasgow College of Nautical Studies to prepare for a life on the waves. The choice between Royal Navy and merchant navy came down to practicalities. 'I'll be honest I don't like sharing toilets and showers, I quite like my own space,' Cloggie-Holden said. 'I spent about three days on HMS Somerset and absolutely hated every minute of it because there was 27 people sharing the same space and I had a locker the size of a kitchen drawer. 'So I thought maybe I don't really want to live like this.' While the RFA is staffed by civilians it provides support to the navy and its vessels have defensive weapons. Cloggie-Holden was on ships that supported operations against the Taliban in 2001-02, worked with the Iraqi navy in 2006-07, engaged in counter-piracy off Somalia in 2008-09 and supplied Royal Navy vessels off the coast of Libya in 2011. In the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia, she was tasked with communicating with vessels that were being approached by pirates. 'They used to attack at sunrise and sunset and we found that having a female voice on the other side of the [radio] was actually quite calming for the crew of the merchant vessels,' she said. 'I used to chat to them, tell them what to do, how to evade the pirates. 'One of the warships that was out there, they boarded a vessel and the pirates basically pointed guns at them. The Royal Marines, as you can imagine, don't like having guns pointed at them. 'We ended up taking the pirates on board, we had two dead ones and nine living ones on the ship and took them into Kenya. 'I was telling someone the other day, we just had to clear the freezer and put two pirates in it and then we had to do a burial at sea.' Cloggie-Holden acknowledges life at sea can be dangerous, but says one trip, from Plymouth to Florida, in December 2011 was her worst. She said: 'We got absolutely battered. We had a storm from pretty much every direction as we crossed the Atlantic. 'We were taking damage, a wave came over our poop deck and ripped loads of guardrails off, we lost some mooring lines, it flooded a few cabins, we lost our port-side navigation lights one night. 'Nothing got done on that ship on the way across, we just had to protect our people and get across there as quickly as possible. 'It's probably the only time at sea that I thought 'this is a little bit hairy, this is not very comfortable'.' Travelling the world, Cloggie-Holden often came up-close-and-personal with wild animals in their natural habitat. While sailing around the island of South Georgia, she and her crew saw penguins and were chased by elephant seals. 'I think when you're at sea you see things that you take for granted,' she said. 'More stars than you will ever see when there's any sort of light pollution. Just sitting on a flight deck at midnight you see that sort of stuff — like dolphins, whales, flying fish, plankton blooms.' The maritime industry is still very male dominated — one report by the International Maritime Organisation suggests women account for just 1 per cent of seafarers. But Cloggie-Holden is working to change that. In 2021 she received the Merchant Navy Medal for her efforts to improve the gender balance in the industry. Cloggie-Holden says she had to work harder to prove herself in her early days. One incident, when a senior colleague made a lewd comment in a bar suggesting her most recent promotion was because she was a woman, stands out. 'I said 'you can do one',' she recalls and there was an apology to her about the incident the following morning. But the onlookers in the bar who didn't know her might have taken the words as true and 'that's the comment that females at sea don't need'. Having achieved the dream of becoming a captain of a vessel her more recent RFA work included being captain of port operations. That meant auditing ports around the world where the Ministry of Defence has an interest and the switch opened up the possibility of more time spent on dry land. There was also a 'huge' change going on in her personal life at that time, as her husband Peter Holden, a retired RFA captain who previously commanded the helicopter training vessel Argus, became seriously ill with cancer. He died in February and Cloggie-Holden said: 'He knew I was coming here [to Peel Ports]. 'He said it's the best decision you've ever made, and actually I had a new adventure ahead of me.' The Peel Ports role, where she will oversee the operations at Clydeport on the River Clyde, the Port of Liverpool and London Medway, is exactly that, an adventure. As the person in charge of all maritime operations such as vessel traffic, navigation, safety, security, harbour services and pilotage it is not going to be a 'cushy nine to five job'. 'I've got enough working life left in me that this is a second career. I've had my career at sea, this is now my career in ports,' she says. Outside work she has taken up curling and is soon to try padel. She added: 'I've decided in life since I started with Peel, since I lost Peter that I'm just not going to say no to anything new. 'So when someone says 'Do you want to go and do that?' Yeah, let's do it.'
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Daily Mail
'Extremely qualified' chief engineer onboard a £50million superyacht died when he failed to isolate the power during repairs, inquest told
An 'extremely qualified' chief engineer onboard a £50 million superyacht died from electrocution after failing to isolate the power during repairs, an inquest heard. 'Dedicated' Roy Temme was working in a 'hot and sweaty' tiny compartment on the luxury 62.5 metre superyacht when he was fatally electrocuted. The 47-year-old experienced 230 volts of electricity jolting through his body after failing to take the necessary precautions when working with live wires, an inquest into his death heard. A colleague who found Mr Temme slumped in the enclosed compartment also experienced a mild electric shock when they touched his body. Jason Pegg, acting senior coroner for Hampshire described the father-of-two as an 'extremely qualified' chief engineer, having served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary before moving to a private yacht. It was heard that Mr Temme, from Southampton, loved his job on the luxurious Baton Rouge superyacht, which was docked in Falmouth Harbour in the Caribbean island of Antigua at the time of his death. The superyacht, which even has its own beach club onboard and a deck pool complete with jets, has just been put on the market for €60 million (£51 million). Accommodating up to twelve guests, it can be chartered at a weekly cost of $500,000, the equivalent of £368,250. Winchester Coroner's Court heard that Mr Temme told the ship's captain he would carry out necessary repair work on the overpressure duct compartment. The pair had agreed on a maximum of 10 minutes inside the duct at any one time before taking a rehydration break, due to its high temperatures of 55 degrees celsius. He began the work shortly after 7.30am on February 23, 2024, keeping in constant communication with the yacht's chief officer via a radio. It wasn't until around an hour later, when he entered the duct for the third time to continue his work, that he was electrocuted. Alarms were activated onboard whilst the second engineer and the chief officer rushed to the duct where they found Mr Temme slumped over. The chief officer tried to move him but suffered a minor electric shock himself, making it clear that Mr Temme was still touching the live wires. Emergency services were called and the engineer was taken to a hospital on Antigua where he was tragically later pronounced dead. During a post-mortem it was found that Mr Temme had full thickness burns on his hands which showed where the 230 volts of electricity had entered his body. The medical cause of death was given as hypoxia and partial burns. The inquest was told he had failed to take the additional precautions recommended for work where the electricity cannot be turned off. Recording a conclusion of death by misadventure, the coroner said the conditions in the duct were 'oppressive' and had resulted in an 'unintended consequence'. As a result of the tragic incident, Mr Pegg told the inquest that procedures on yachts chartered by Nigel Burgess Ltd had been changed and existing ones reinforced. Mr Temme's wife, Nataliya Temme, raised concerns during the hearing that Nigel Burgess Ltd, the yacht's operator, had acted 'unprofessionally' and 'lied to her about the cause of her husband's death'. She alleged that during an initial phone call about the incident she had been 'lied to', adding: 'They did not bother to ask if I was alone or not, my daughter was in the car. 'They said he was doing his usual rounds and he collapsed on deck, I found out the real cause from the media. 'It was evidently unprofessional, I was disrespected... how they behaved is not acceptable.' However, Mr Pegg said this was not within the remit of the inquest as it did not concern how Mr Temme had died. Mr Pegg, who described Mr Temme as a 'much loved husband and father', said that his devastated wife would remember him as a 'strong man, a family man, a very dedicated man, someone who was cheerful with a great sense of humour'. Addressing Ms Temme directly, he added: 'To you, the children, wider family and friends you have my genuine and sincere condolences. '(Mr Temme) is desperately missed I am sure'.
Daily Mirror
17-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
British engineer died on £50m superyacht after being electrocuted onboard
Roy Temme, 47, from Southampton was fixing a ventilation damper in temperatures of up to 55C while moored in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, last year when the fatal accident happened A 'much-loved' British engineer was electrocuted to death while repairing a fault on a luxury superyacht in the Caribbean, an inquest has heard. The body of Roy Temme, 47, from Southampton, was found dead on the the 62.5 metre-long Baton Rouge in February 2024 when it was moored in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. He chose to repair the ventilation damper in an enclosed compartment of the vessel. The heat was so intense - ranging between 50C and 55C - that he could only work for 10 minutes at a time before needing breaks. A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that Mr Temme had not isolated the electricity for the repair and the electric breaker was found to be still on. Coroner Jason Pegg said that no permit had been sought to carry the repair. He added that the dad-of-two, who previously served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, was 'hot and sweaty' while working and that this would have aided the electricity flowing through his body. The chief officer who found Mr Temme's body also received an electric shock himself. Mr Pegg said: "Roy was working in temperatures of 50 to 55C. He was hot and sweaty which aided the electrical flow through his body. He was a much-loved husband and father and was extremely experienced and qualified." In a statement read out at the inquest, the engineer's wife Natasha said: 'He's an amazing father, amazing husband, always cheerful, great sense of humour. "Roy was a strong man, family man, sober habits, courteous and always willing to help.' She added: "There was no-one to help him... Even if he was crying for help there was no-one there." Mr Pegg noted: 'The evidence would suggest that when Roy embarked on that task which involved the electric circuits on the ship, there was no making safe of the electrical system by Roy or anyone else.' He added that a post-mortem report found that Mr Temme, suffered cardiac arrest caused by the electric shock and that he also had burns to his body. This resulted in hypoxia – or oxygen deficiency – which caused Mr Temme's death. A verdict of death by misadventure was concluded. Mr Pegg said also that he would not be producing a prevention of future deaths report because the MAIB stated that 'procedures had been reviewed and existing ones have been reinforced'. Mr Temme was part of a 17-strong crew on the vessel, which had no guests at the time of the fatal incident. The Baton Rouge was made in 2010 and costs £358,000 a week to charter and has five decks and seven cabins and has a beach club and gym on board.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
Navy tracks Russian warships through UK waters
Royal Navy ships based in Plymouth and Portsmouth were deployed to track Russian warships through British waters this week, a navy spokesperson has said. Plymouth-based HMS St Albans, a Type-23 frigate, monitored the Admiral Golovoko as it sailed east through the English Channel and launched a Merlin helicopter to gather information from the air. Portsmouth-based patrol ship HMS Mersey tracked RFN Soobrazitelny as it sailed west. HMS Alban's commanding officer, Cdr Matt Teare, said the "regularity of Russian activity around the United Kingdom reinforces the vital importance of continuous integration with our allies and partners". HMS Albans was also involved in a three-day operation to monitor the Russian Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoikiy earlier this month, the navy said. Cdr Teare said the frigate "is at very high readiness to operate whenever, and wherever, the nation needs us in the protection of our home and the waters surrounding it". He added he was "extremely proud" of his crew's professionalism and "tireless dedication to keeping our nation safe". Meanwhile, Portsmouth-based patrol HMS Mersey tracked RFN Soobrazitelny as the corvette sailed west, supported by Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Tidesurge. Russian tanker Kola was also monitored heading in the same direction in a coordinated effort with the Joint Maritime Security Centre. Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ Follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Royal Navy frigates to be based in Portsmouth Russian warship tracked for five days off UK coast Russian warship tracked near British waters Royal Navy
BBC News
26-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Royal Navy tracks Russian warships through UK waters
Royal Navy ships based in Plymouth and Portsmouth were deployed to track Russian warships through British waters this week, a navy spokesperson has HMS St Albans, a Type-23 frigate, monitored the Admiral Golovoko as it sailed east through the English Channel and launched a Merlin helicopter to gather information from the patrol ship HMS Mersey tracked RFN Soobrazitelny as it sailed Alban's commanding officer, Cdr Matt Teare, said the "regularity of Russian activity around the United Kingdom reinforces the vital importance of continuous integration with our allies and partners". 'Tireless dedication' HMS Albans was also involved in a three-day operation to monitor the Russian Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoikiy earlier this month, the navy Teare said the frigate "is at very high readiness to operate whenever, and wherever, the nation needs us in the protection of our home and the waters surrounding it".He added he was "extremely proud" of his crew's professionalism and "tireless dedication to keeping our nation safe".Meanwhile, Portsmouth-based patrol HMS Mersey tracked RFN Soobrazitelny as the corvette sailed west, supported by Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA tanker Kola was also monitored heading in the same direction in a coordinated effort with the Joint Maritime Security Centre.
