Two frigates from the Royal Canadian Navy are being sent to a massive multinational maritime exercise and the public will be able to see the vessels depart from Greater Victoria Thursday afternoon.
HMCS Regina and HMCS Winnipeg, both Halifax-class frigates, will sail past the shoreline between 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. as they depart for the Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC) off of Hawaii.
The ships will be accompanied by airborne CH-148 Cyclone helicopters from the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Those interested in seeing the departure can visit one of the following observation points as the ships travel West, starting from Discovery Island at approximately 4:15 p.m:
- Trafalgar park at 4:40 pm;
- Clover Point park at 4:45 pm;
- Beacon Hill park at 4:50 pm;
- Holland Point park at 4:55 pm;
- Ogden Point breakwater 5:00 pm;
- MaCauley Point park 5:05 pm;
- Saxe Point park 5:10 pm and;
- Esquimalt Lagoon at 5:15 pm.
The Royal Canadian Navy says that the public should remember to observe COVID-19 social distancing efforts during the event.
Hosted by the US navy, RIMPAC is the largest multinational maritime exercise in the world. It is scheduled to take place August 17-31, 2020.
