The training was held as navies from Southeast Asia and the Pacific region ended their two weeks of maritime training exercises in Singapore with the goal of strengthening peace and stability in the region.
The US cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) staged the exercises with PCG vessels BRP Batangas and BRP Kalanggaman that include search and rescue near the Scarborough Shoal in the first sea training involving Coast Guard vessels from the allies.
Chinese Coast Guard ships, which have established a regular presence in the area, along with Chinese Navy vessels through China’s de facto control of the shoal beginning in 2012, shadowed the exercises from a distance, but the allies simply ignored them and proceeded with the activities.
“Bertholf completed an at-sea search and rescue exercise today [Tuesday] with our counterparts from the Philippine Coast Guard. This engagement proved an excellent opportunity to compare techniques, maintain proficiency and build a friendly relationship among professional mariners and coast guards,” said Capt. John J. Driscoll, Bertholf’s commanding officer.
“Our relationship is critically important as we work together to ensure the ocean remains free and open, with a respect for international law and rules of behavior at sea, and where mariners are safe to carry out their livelihood—whether they’re on a cargo ship or fishing vessel,” Driscoll added in a news statement released by the US Navy’s 7th Fleet.
The PCG, for its part, said in a separate statement that the training will kick off the activities of Bertholf and its crewmen who are expected to dock in Manila on Wednesday, days after two US Navy minesweepers berthed in Palawan.
Meanwhile, the two-phase Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (ADMM-Plus MARSEC FTX) 2019 ended on Monday in Singapore, with officials declaring it has boosted trust and confidence among the participating navies.
The Asean exercise, the first phase of which was held in South Korea, was cohosted by Singapore and South Korea.
Lt. Maria Christina Roxas, public affairs officer of the Philippine Navy’s Task Group 80.6, which joined the training, said that Singapore saw the two-week maritime security exercises as having reflected the abiding value of the ADMM-Plus, while building the trust and confidence “within the ADMM-Plus navies.”
“This is an opportunity for us to strengthen the security and peace and maintain cooperation in the region. Today, all of us are to remain committed to peace and stability, to secure these rules-based maritime waters reinforced by practical cooperation,” she quoted Lt. Gen. Melvyn Ong, chief of the Singapore Defense Force, as saying.
The Philippine Navy’s patrol ship BRP Andres Bonifacio (PS17) joined 18 other warships, 10 aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel during the exercises in the waters of Busan, South Korea, and eastern Singapore.
Roxas said that Capt. Roy Vincent Trinidad, head of the Philippine contingent, declared that the Philippine Navy had achieved its goal during the exercise.
“We were able to enhance our maritime operational capability to multilateral level, thereby increasing our readiness and interoperability while engaging our partner navies,” she quoted Trinidad as saying.
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