Navy conducts SAR exercise

Navy conducts SAR exercise

JAKARTA: Three teams of sailors and a medical team from the Navy's Western Fleet staged a search and rescue exercise from Sept. 4 to Sept. 5 in the waters of the Seribu Islands and Cirebon.

Code-named Rescue at Sea, the drill involved two warships (the KRI Teuku Umar and the KRI Barakuda), a Nomad N-22 plane, a Bell helicopter, a B0-105 helicopter and a speedboat.

Chief of the Indonesian Navy's information service Commodore Sugeng Waluyo said in a press release issued on Saturday that the exercise was aimed at improving naval and air crew's capabilities.

It was also aimed at improving the capability of medical teams and frogmen in their efforts to search for and rescue victims at sea using all available means.

Western Fleet commander Rear Admiral Djoko Sumaryono said in a written message that the exercise should be conducted seriously in accordance with existing procedures. --Antara