16 navies comb S. China Sea

16 navies comb S. China Sea

SINGAPORE (AFP): Navies from 16 mainly Asia-Pacific countries,
including Indonesia, combed the South China Sea on Monday in a
mine-sweeping exercise aimed at improving multinational efforts
to keep the region's vital shipping lanes safe.

Anti-mine helicopters, hunter ships and specially trained
divers carried out the exercises off the Indonesian island of
Bintan in Riau, military officials said.

The 12-day inaugural Western Pacific Mine Countermeasure
Exercise and First Western Pacific Diving Exercise, the largest
mine countermeasures exercise to be conducted in the region,
opened last week.

But Monday was the first time that actual anti-mine operations
were carried out as the forces spent last week conducting unit-
level training.

Fifteen ships and 1,500 personnel from Australia, Canada,
China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Papua New Guinea, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the
United States and Vietnam are participating.

Capt. Charles Smith, commanding officer of a U.S. command and
control ship, the USS Inchon, said it was rare for 16 nations to
work together in such a way.

"When was the last time you saw something like that?" he asked
reporters.

Smith said it was important to guard the safety of regional
waterways as more than half of the world's shipping tonnage
passes through the Malacca Straits, Singapore Straits and the
South China Sea.