Loch Ness was the scene of a dramatic exercise yesterday as a Royal Navy patrol boat worked alongside a coastguard helicopter and lifeboat.
The emergency services were making the most of an opportunity to train together while HMS Tracker is on a deployment around Scotland.
Normally based at HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, the ship is on a three week tour.
It arrived in Loch Ness yesterday after making its way from Fort Augustus.
Crew worked with Loch Ness Lifeboat volunteers and Rescue Helicopter 951 from Inverness to practice casualty transfers around the Temple Pier area at Drumnadrochit.
Maeve Ryan, Loch Ness Lifeboat volunteer press officer, said: “The crew were taking part in a training exercise with the boat and the helicopter.
“They were doing casualty transfers from the helicopter down to the lifeboat and casualty manoeuvres with the ship as well.
“It was a very good experience all round. It was very useful for the volunteer crew. They do a lot of training but they don’t often get an opportunity to work in that kind of situation with the helicopter and HMS Tracker.
“It attracted a good bit of attention with all the comings and goings. They were using a dummy as a casualty which was being winched up and down between the helicopter and the lifeboat.”
The modified Royal Navy Archer class P2000 vessel, which helps protect high-value shipping, is a common sight on the River Clyde.
Lieutenant Commander James Mitchell, Commanding Officer of HMS Tracker, said: “The Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron performs an important role, helping to protect the River Clyde and high-value vessels which use the dockyard port. We are really looking forward to sailing around Scotland and explaining the work the Royal Navy does to protect the country.”
Among the places HMS Tracker and her crew will visit are Islay, Inverness, Lossiemouth, Wick, Orkney, Stornoway, Portree and Tobermory.
During the three weeks the vessel will also host a number of school visits, train alongside the RNLI and the coastguard, and demonstrate and practice seamanship to potential Royal Navy recruits.
Commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1998, HMS Tracker is one of two patrol boats that form the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron. Formed in 2010, the Squadron provides Force Protection in and around Faslane.
HMS Tracker is an armed patrol boat, fitted with Kevlar armour and able to operate three 7.62mm general purpose machine guns.
