PICTURES

Singapore, Malaysian navies conduct joint exercise

RADM Ng Chee Peng (third from right) and Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz (third from left), as well as senior commanders from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with the new Exercise Malapura logo. -- PHOTO: MINDEF
RADM Ng Chee Peng (third from right) and Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz (third from left), as well as senior commanders from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with the new Exercise Malapura logo. -- PHOTO: MINDEF
RADM Ng Chee Peng (second from right) and Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz (second from left) unveiling the new Exercise Malapura logo as RSN’s Fleet Commander RADM Timothy Lo (left) and RMN’s Fleet Operations Commander Vice-Admiral Dato’ Abd Hadi bin A. Rashid looked on. -- PHOTO: MINDEF
Exercise participants from the RSN and RMN interacting at the start of Exercise Malapura 2014. -- PHOTO: MINDEF

The Republic of Singapore Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) have begun a 10-day joint maritime exercise that will take place in Singapore and the Malacca Strait.

This year's exercise, codenamed Malapura, also marks the 30th anniversary of the series.

RSN's Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral (RADM) Ng Chee Peng and his Malaysian counterpart, Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Bin Haji Jaafar, jointly unveiled the new Exercise Malapura logo at Changi Naval Base on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary.

Also present at the ceremony were senior naval officers from both countries.

Some 700 personnel from both sides of the causeway are involved in the exercise, during which both navies will carry out joint planning and training. They will also conduct drills in conventional naval warfare and maritime security in the Malacca Strait.

The RSN is participating with a frigate (RSS Steadfast), a missile corvette (RSS Victory), a patrol vessel (RSS Dauntless) and the Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk Naval Helicopter. The RMN is represented by a frigate (KD Lekiu), a corvette (KD Kasturi) and a patrol vessel (KD Terengganu).

RADM Ng said the 30th anniversary of Exercise Malapura highlights the strong bilateral ties between both navies.

"The increased scope and complexity of the exercise since its inception demonstrate the strong mutual understanding and interoperability that the two navies have built up over the years," said RADM Ng.

Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz added that Exercise Malapura had developed into a mutually beneficial annual interaction for both navies. "Notwithstanding the opportunity to enhance competency and professionalism, this series of exercises has heightened the spirit of comradeship. It is heartening to note that the complexity and the level of exercise serials are reviewed continuously to meet the requirements of the evolving traditional and non-traditional security threats that are of common concern to both countries," he said.

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