Operazione White Crane
Operazione White Crane was Italy's military relief operation for Haiti, following the 2010 [Haiti earthquake|12 January 2010 earthquake].
Force composition
Italy is sending:- aircraft carrier
- * Cavours complement:
- ** 6 Navy helicopters
- *** 4 SH-3D helicopters
- *** 2 EH-101 helicopters
- ** two operating theatres
- ** 550 ship's crew, medical complement, force protection sailors
- * Shipped on Cavour:
- ** 15 Army tracked vehicles
- ** 20 Army wheeled vehicles
- ** 5 mobile medical vehicles
- ** Army personnel
- *** 200 alpine troops of the 2° reggimento Genio di Trento
- ** Air Force personnel
- ** Carabinieri military police 13° RGT. "F.G.V."
- ** Carabinieri medical unit
- ** mobile hospital
- ** 200 tonnes of food
- Field hospital
- C-130
Mission timeline
On 14 January 2010, Italy dispatched a C-130 loaded with 20 surgeons, some soldiers, some civil protection officers, and a field hospital. It decided to send a warship.On 19 January 2010, Cavour set sail for Haiti, leaving La Spezia.
As of 29 January 2010, Cavour had picked up a Brazilian relief force at Fortaleza. The Brazilians added two helicopters, a UH-14 Super Puma and a UH-12 Squirrel, 11 civilians, 63 military.
On 1 February 2010, Cavour arrived at the Dominican Republic port of Puerto Caucedo, near the capital of Santo Domingo. The land element, Task Force Genio, disembarked, and would trek overland to Haiti, due to the damaged docks at Port-au-Prince. Cavour has RO-RO capability. It would depart for Haiti later.
On 3 February 2010, Cavour had disgorged all the land-mobile land-element. The overland trip to Port-au-Prince from Puerto Caucedo took 36 hours.
On 6 February 2010, Cavour arrived at Port-au-Prince.
As of 7 February 2010, over 25 aid flights using the Italian and Brazilian helicopters over the two days that Cavour had been at Port-au-Prince, had been completed.
Cavour had remain docked at Port-au-Prince through mid-April.