RI and S'pore to clear mines

TUBAN, East Java: The Indonesian and Singaporean navies are to conduct a joint exercise off the coast of Tuban, East Java, from Feb. 14 to Feb. 25, Antara reported Thursday.

The exercise will focus on mine-clearing and be held in Tanjung Awar-awar waters in the Jenu subdistrict.

The Singaporean Navy is to be represented by two warships, RSN Kellang and RSN Pedok, the Indonesian Navy's Information Service said in a dispatch received Thursday.

Last December, the Indonesian Navy assembled a task force, the TA-II/96, to locate mines laid in the waters off Jenu subdistrict during World War II.

Two minesweepers, the KRI Pulau Rupat and KRI Pulau Ratewo, led by Col Lily Rihadi, were used in the operation.

The team has covered 60 percent of an area totaling 32 square kilometers. It has detected 118 possible mines at depths of one to 30 meters.

The detection work was done in two stages: first by the two warships, and later by the warships assisted by local fishermen in boats equipped with detection devices from the Navy's hydro- oceanographic service. (swe)