South East Asia Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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Naval Today said:

The 21st annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and the Malaysian Armed Forces began Aug. 17 with opening ceremonies in Sandakan, Malaysia.

CARAT Malaysia 2015 consists of five days of shore-based and at-sea training events, designed to address shared maritime security concerns, build relationships, and enhance interoperability among participating forces.

CARAT is a series of bilateral naval exercises between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

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Pacific Sentinel said:

DA NANG, Vietnam - The hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and joint high speed vessel USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3) arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam, Aug. 17 for their last mission stops of Pacific Partnership 2015.

While in Da Nang, U.S. and partner nation service members as well as non-governmental organizations will work together to conduct subject matter expert exchanges on various medical and disaster relief topics, dental engagements, and engineering civic action programs. Personnel aboard both ships will also have the opportunity to volunteer for community outreach events.

“A significant portion of what we’re going to be doing in Vietnam is subject matter expert exchange,” said Royal Australian Navy Cmdr. Ken Walters. “It will be relating to disaster medicine, disaster preparedness, and all the other associated items which will provide the Vietnamese community with the wherewithal to sustain themselves in events of a catastrophe.”

The mission in Vietnam will culminate in a disaster medicine drill where both U.S. and Vietnamese medical personnel will participate both on and off Mercy.

“The drill will have about 50 casualties,” said Walters. “Part of that will be an element that will happen aboard Mercy, where casualties will come from ashore and be brought here, and we will take the Vietnamese health providers through and show them how we run a mass casualty and evacuation drill.”

According to the Commanding Officer of Medical Treatment Facility Mercy, Capt. Melanie Merrick, the mission in Vietnam will focus on sharing ideas and furthering an understanding of the response capabilities in the host nation should a disaster strike.

“I expect that the crew aboard Mercy will be impressed with the sophistication and cutting-edge technology of the Vietnamese medical system,” said Merrick. “I am looking forward to our discussions on disaster response as we develop the disaster drill, and I think we will learn new techniques from our Vietnamese partners in how to be better prepared for coastal disasters. Having lived along the East Coast of the United States for many years, I know the threat of a hurricane is ever present, and I look forward to learning from our Vietnamese partners in how they have adopted a coastal response plan.”

Other engagements for the PP15 crew on this mission stop include orthopedic surgical cases, where Navy surgeons will work side-by-side with the host nation health providers.

“The surgical engagement in Vietnam will include some highly specialized surgical operations onboard Mercy, which will be conducted side-by-side with Vietnamese and U.S. Navy orthopedic surgeons,” said Merrick. “We have carefully planned these procedures of hip and knee replacements and are fortunate to have the non-governmental organization Project Hope sending their volunteers to assist with the care of the Vietnamese patients.”

Additionally, U.S. Navy Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion One and U.S. Air Force “RED HORSE” engineers will help renovate three medical buildings in Da Nang, as well as renovate bathrooms at a disadvantaged children’s center.

Also, the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band has a full schedule of public performances in Da Nang, including several at the city’s famed “Dragon Bridge.”

“This is the sixth time the U.S. has visited Vietnam in the 10 years we have been conducting Pacific Partnership. The visit by Mercy and Millinocket to Vietnam also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam,” said Capt. Christopher Engdahl, the mission commander for Pacific Partnership 2015. “We look forward to working with our Vietnamese partners to fully understand the dynamics of preparing for disaster relief in this modern urban environment and furthering the partnership between our nations.”

"We are thrilled to conduct another Pacific Partnership mission in Vietnam,” said Capt. James Meyer, commodore of Task Force Forager embarked aboard Millinocket. “Task Force Forager personnel will unite with USNS Mercy personnel and engage with local communities to improve capability, build relationships, and exercise our collective ability to respond to a natural disaster."

Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. While training for crisis conditions, Pacific Partnership missions to date have provided medical care to approximately 270,000 patients and veterinary services to more than 38,000 animals. Additionally, PP15 has provided critical infrastructure development to host nations through the completion of more than 180 engineering projects.

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gCaptain said:

SINGAPORE, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Malaysia and Indonesia are deploying rapid reaction teams to combat a soaring number of attacks on merchant vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping chokepoints, a Malaysian admiral said.

Over 70 ships have been attacked in the Malacca and Singapore straits, on the western side of the Malay Peninsula, this year, the highest number since at least 2008, including at least seven at the end of last week, according to security and anti-piracy groups.

“We have in general recommended that vessels proceeding to Singapore and passing Malaysian waters take appropriate security measures,” said Michael Storgaard, spokesman for the world’s biggest shipping firm Maersk Line. One of the ships attacked last week was the 106,043 deadweight container ship Maersk Lebu.

The surge of attacks has led the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), or coastguard, to deploy a helicopter-equipped special task and rescue (STAR) team at Johor Bharu, First Admiral Maritime Zulkifili bin Abu Bakar, director of maritime matters in the MMEA’s crime investigations department, told Reuters.

The Malaysian and Indonesian navies are forming a similar rapid reaction force in the area, Zulkifili added.

While the MMEA force would respond to robbery and hijacking incidents team members would sometimes be deployed on merchant ships operated by Malaysian government-linked firms, he said.

“The STAR team is in addition to the other MMEA personnel tasked to combat anti-piracy/sea robbery. I can’t tell you the number of personnel, but (it is) formidable enough to undertake any anti-hijacking operations,” the Admiral said.

Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia already coordinate naval and police patrols in the Malacca Strait and South China Sea, but have been hampered by a lack of resources, while sheltered coasts and islands make it easy for robbers to operate.

Shipping and security experts welcomed the latest move, but urged a more active approach.

“There remains a need for a proactive, permanent security presence in the area during the hours of darkness,” said Mark Thomas, Asia Pacific regional manager at maritime security consultancy Dryad Maritime in Singapore.

GLOBAL PIRACY HOTSPOT

South East Asia has become the world’s maritime armed robbery and piracy hotspot, registering 84 out of 106 global incidents in the first half of this year, the International Maritime Bureau said.

Data from the Regional Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) shows the most recent spate of attacks took place in Indonesian waters within 48 hours, suggesting a single group of attackers.

Yet anti-piracy organisations and security firms draw a distinction between the attacks around Singapore, which security experts equated to maritime mugging, and violent piracy off the coast of Somalia, which was only reined in after concerted international efforts.

In most of the attacks in the Malacca and Singapore straits, lightly armed robbers fled, either empty-handed or after stealing ship’s stores, while pirates in Africa tended to be heavily armed, attacking larger ships and kidnapping crews.

Shippers said the low level of violence and strict arms regulations in southeast Asia meant it was difficult to employ armed guards.

Instead, tougher onboard measures should be adopted, similar to those used in the Indian Ocean to ward off Somali pirates, including the fitting of barbed wire, locking all doors and better lookouts.

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