HMS Westminster Crew Help Open Boat Show

Around 30,000 members of the public are expected to visit HMS Westminster at this year's London Boat Show which was opened by model Kelly Brook with a helping hand from the ship's crew on Friday.

The Portsmouth-based Royal Navy warship with a crew of 170 arrived at the ExCel Centre in London's Docklands, the venue for the Boat Show, on Friday 9 January 2009 for a ten-day visit, during which time she will be open to the public.

Royal Navy advisors will be on hand to illustrate the range of career options available in today's modern navy and groups of schoolchildren, numbering up to 50 at a time, will be given VIP tours of the frigate, with local Sea Cadets also set to visit the ship while she's docked alongside.

In addition, she will be hosting a number of receptions, dinners and charity events involving the local community in support of this prestigious international event, including a dinner for the Royal Thames Yacht Club in the wardroom.

Speaking at the Boat Show, Commander Ken Houlberg, who has been the Commanding Officer of HMS Westminster for the last year, said:

"We've been invited here to support the British maritime and leisure community. It's the community of which we're a part and we're keen to support it.

"We're expecting 30,000 people to tour the ship while we're here and we're keen to show the taxpayer what he's paying for and for us to get into the public eye.

"The members of the public I meet are so supportive and so interested and enthusiastic. The support is phenomenal wherever we go.

"We've spent eight-and-a-half months away from home so the ship's worked hard and this is a good reward for the crew. It will be hard work for them but fun too. The lads and lasses are the best ambassadors for the Royal Navy and they're pretty good at setting a good impression. I won't have to do anything!"

HMS Westminster was involved in various training deployments in the first half of 2008 in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. She undertook exercises with the Indian Navy and was stood off the coast of Burma following the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis in May, ready to provide any humanitarian assistance:

"Every single member of the crew volunteered to go ashore to help out," said Commander Houlberg.

The ship also enjoyed a home port visit last December, when Commander Houlberg was delighted to accept on behalf of his crew the freedom of the city of Westminster. The council put on a service in Westminster Abbey and a reception for the whole crew of HMS Westminster:

"We're affiliated to Westminster," he said, "and the council have really taken us under their wing, they're very supportive."

The Royal Navy's recruitment stand at this year's Boat Show was opened by solo round the world yachtswoman, Dame Ellen MacArthur, who is an honorary Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy.

This 48ft x 20ft (15m x 6m) fully interactive facility will have six to eight naval personnel on duty, ready to answer any questions about life on the high seas.

And HMS Westminster's guest of honour today, Monday 12 January 2009, is one of the world's leading dinghy sailors, Lieutenant Commander Penny Clark of the Royal Navy.

Lieutenant Commander Clark has been given special dispensation by her employers to pursue Olympic glory at London 2012 by concentrating full-time on her sailing. She finished tenth in the Laser Radial class at the Beijing Olympics.

Sub-Lieutenant Ben Jeffrey, an Officer Under Training aboard HMS Westminster, will be one of the many crew members showing members of the public around the ship at the boat show:

"I'm looking forward to being at the show as are all the ship's company," he said.

"I'm looking forward to speaking to the public. We have to remember the UK is an island nation and we do a lot of work around the UK protecting her interests so it's important for the public to see what goes on and what we do.

"It's interesting to speak to people and see what they think, especially kids. They're very knowledgeable and very impressed. Most people seem very proud of the Navy.

"We had some kids from a Westminster youth club stay on board overnight on the way here from Portsmouth. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The kids are the future."

HMS Westminster will be open to the public at the Boat Show until Sunday 18 January 2009.

See more pictures of the Opening Of the London Boat Show 2009

See more on the Royal Navy at the London Boat Show