Operazione White Crane ANSA, "Portaerei Cavour, gli aiuti per Haiti", 4 February 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010) (Operation White Crane) was Italy's military relief operation for Haiti, following the 12 January 2010 earthquake. Bruxelles2, "Le porte-avions italien Cavour en route vers Haïti", Nicolas Gros-Verheyde, 26 January 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010)

Force composition

Italy is sending: aircraft carrier Defense News, , Tom Kington, 18 January 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010) 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: (Task Force Genio) 15 Army tracked vehicles 20 Army wheeled vehicles 5 mobile medical vehicles Army personnel 200 alpine troops of the 2° reggimento Genio di Trento2nd engineering regiment of 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. Marine Marchande, "Haïti: l'Italie envisage l'envoi d'un navire militaire (ministre)", AFP, 15 January 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010)

On 19 January 2010, Cavour set sail for Haiti, leaving La Spezia. Mediapolitika, "Haiti, la terra trema: migliaia fra morti e senza tetto. Berlusconi invia Bertolaso", Lucia Varasano, 22 January 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010) LRNews, "Haiti. La Cavour in rotta verso Haiti con il contingente della missione umanitaria italo-brasiliana" , Ferdinando Pelliccia, 29 January 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010)

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 (AS350 Il Velino, "Haiti, continua l'impegno dei militari italiani" , 8 February 2010 (accessed 9 February 2010)), 11 civilians (6 doctors, 5 nurses), 63 military (25 health professionals).Nam News Network, "Italian Aircraft Carrier with Brazilian Volunteers to aid Haiti" , Xinhua, 29 January 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010)

On 1 February 2010, Cavour arrived at the Dominican Republic port of Puerto Caucedo, near the capital of Santo Domingo. Il Messaggero, "Haiti, arrivata la portaerei Cavour Gli Usa riprendono evacuazione feriti", 1 February 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010) The land element, Task Force Genio, Qui News, '“Portaerei Cavour” supporto logistico a 24 ore di viaggio', Carmelo Sorbera, 23 February 2010 (accessed 23 February 2010) disembarked, and would trek overland to Haiti, due to the damaged docks at Port-au-Prince. Cavour has RO-RO capability.RO-RO = roll-on, roll-off – similar to a ferry, where you can drive on and drive off again It would depart for Haiti later. Cronaca, "Haiti: portaerei Cavour attracca a Puerto Caucedo", Adnkronos, 3 February 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010)

On 3 February 2010, Cavour had disgorged all the land-mobile land-element. Virgilio, "Scaricato dalla Cavour tutto il materiale" , APCOM, 4 February 2010 (accessed 9 February 2010) The overland trip to Port-au-Prince from Puerto Caucedo took 36 hours. Panorama Brasil, "Haitianos feridos em terremoto chegam à Itália", Voltar, 8 February 2010 (accessed 9 February 2010)

On 6 February 2010, Cavour arrived at Port-au-Prince. Terra News, "Continuate ad aiutarci Haiti rischia l’oblio" , Floriana Bulfon, 7 February 2010 (accessed 9 February 2010)

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.Tandem, "Strengthening ties with Italo communities", Paola Bernardini, 14 March 2010 (accessed 30 March 2010)

Reactions Several Italians have criticized the use of Cavour since it costs over 200,000 Euros a day to operate, and shipping by air would have been far faster. Others have said, that it is a drop in the bucket compared to the efforts by the US. Some have pointed out, it is one of the largest efforts out of Europe. L'Occidentale, "L'intervento italiano ad Haiti: portaerei, terremotati e sterili polemiche", Gianandrea Gaiani, 6 February 2010 (accessed 6 February 2010)

Notes

References