“After six days on the ground working in the more remote areas of Vanuatu, we have been shocked daily by the level of damage and destruction that Cyclone Pam has caused,” says Dragonfly’s captain Mike Gregory. “We have found villages that are still waiting for aid nearly two weeks after the storm and that are down to their last days of food stocks. Many of these villages have no fresh water source.” The yacht arrived in Vanuatu at the weekend.

So far, Dragonfly has discharged and staged over 50,000 litres of fresh water in ten villages; attended to over 220 casualties/patients; facilitated three medical evacuations; cleared numerous zones for helicopter landing; cleared access roads and removed fallen trees from buildings; delivered or erected shelter in multiple villages.

“Our efforts will continue into the weekend and we hope to reach 80,000 litres of water. I am incredibly proud of what the team on board have achieved in responding to the emergency here in Vanuatu, and we are all glad that we have been able to give something back to those that were so hospitable to us,” he says, adding that the work of Unicef and the Red Cross has been essential to the successful relief effort but that support from the public at large is still desperately needed.

Dragonfly’s owner requested that his yacht steam immediately towards the island to aid the relief effort after Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu ten days ago. The yacht is managed by Y.CO.