16 navies comb S. China Sea<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Navies from 16 mainly Asia-Pacific countries,
\nincluding Indonesia, combed the South China Sea on Monday in a
\nmine-sweeping exercise aimed at improving multinational efforts
\nto keep the region's vital shipping lanes safe.<\/p>\n
Anti-mine helicopters, hunter ships and specially trained
\ndivers carried out the exercises off the Indonesian island of
\nBintan in Riau, military officials said.<\/p>\n
The 12-day inaugural Western Pacific Mine Countermeasure
\nExercise and First Western Pacific Diving Exercise, the largest
\nmine countermeasures exercise to be conducted in the region,
\nopened last week.<\/p>\n
But Monday was the first time that actual anti-mine operations
\nwere carried out as the forces spent last week conducting unit-
\nlevel training.<\/p>\n
Fifteen ships and 1,500 personnel from Australia, Canada,
\nChina, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand,
\nPapua New Guinea, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the
\nUnited States and Vietnam are participating.<\/p>\n
Capt. Charles Smith, commanding officer of a U.S. command and
\ncontrol ship, the USS Inchon, said it was rare for 16 nations to
\nwork together in such a way.<\/p>\n
\"When was the last time you saw something like that?\" he asked
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
Smith said it was important to guard the safety of regional
\nwaterways as more than half of the world's shipping tonnage
\npasses through the Malacca Straits, Singapore Straits and the
\nSouth China Sea.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/16-navies-comb-s-china-sea-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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