Singapore navy ship reaches Vishakhapatnam for joint exercise

A Singapore Navy ship reached Vishakhapatnam on Sunday to participate in the India-Singapore joint naval exercise, said an official statement.

RSS Formidable, a multi-role stealth frigate commanded by Lt. Col. Khoo Aik Leong Albert, will participate in the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises 'SIMBEX-16'.

A senior Singapore Navy delegation headed by Col. Aaron Beng, who commands the 185 Squadron, is also visiting Vishakhapatnam-headquartered Eastern Naval Command (ENC) during the period, said the Defence Ministry statement.

During the visit, the seniors Singaporean Navy commanders will call on ENC's commander-in-chief, Vice Admiral H.C.S. Bisht and Eastern Fleet commander, Rear Admiral A.B. Dasgupta.

In the exercise, Indian Navy will be represented by guided missile destroyer INS Ranvijay, indigenous anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kamorta, a Sindhugosh class submarine, along with number of maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters.

A Fokker 50 maritime patrol aircraft of the Singapore Navy will be operating from Port Blair.

The SIMBEX series was first formalized when Singaporean Navy ships began training with the Indian Navy in 1994.

Simbex-16, being held in the Bay of Bengal region, is 23rd in the series and is aimed to increase interoperability and to develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.

The thrust of exercises at sea this year would be on anti-submarine warfare, integrated operations with surface, air and sub-surface forces, air defence and surface encounters.

--IANS

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