... ships that will participate in the exercise have arrived in Batam. They are ready to take part in the activity in the three areas... "Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto is scheduled to inaugurate Komodo Multilateral Naval Exercise (KMNE) 2014 in the Batam Harbour Bay on Saturday morning.
The naval exercise which involves 17 countries will take place in Batam Bay, Natuna Islands and Anambas Islands, KMNE 2014 Director Commodore Amarulla Octavian said here on Friday.
Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, National Defense Forces (TNI) Chief General Moeldoko and a number of ambassadors from participating countries are expected to attend the opening ceremony, he said.
"Almost all delegates and ships that will participate in the exercise have arrived in Batam. They are ready to take part in the activity in the three areas," he said.
MNEX 2014 is a disaster response simulation exercise which involves warships from 17 countries. The exercise which is the first of its kind held in Indonesia is aimed at setting the standards of air, sea and land disaster responses.
The exercise also involves a number of planes from Indonesia and the United States and a few helicopters from Indonesia and China, he said.
The 17 participating countries include all ASEAN member states, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the United States, China, Russia, and Australia, plus observers from European Union, the Netherlands, and UN. This is the first time for all major parties in Pacific rim come together in order to build stronger cooperation.
Indonesia sends a total of 19 warships, two planes, four helicopters, two sea and coast guard ships from the Transportation Ministry and one ship from the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas), to the exercise.
Meanwhile, the foreign countries send 14 warships and four helicopters to the activity.
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
