Maintenance work on the RFA Wave Ruler Fleet Support Tanker A390 at Birkenhead, Merseyside.
The A390 RFA Wave Ruler is a Wave-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) of the United Kingdom tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world. Recently in 2010, Wave Ruler and the destroyer HMS York were deployed to the Falkland Islands during a period of increased tension between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the former's plans to begin drilling for oil in the seas surrounding the islands. Before the vessel returned to the Caribbean, where she distributed 160 tonnes of fresh water and 32,000 water purification tablets in St. Lucia after the effects of Hurricane Tomas.
The RFA Wave Ruler has been stationed at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead since November 2012 for heavy maintenance before being recommissioned by the RFA later this year.