Singapore, India, Thailand kick off maiden trilateral exercise

The navies of the Republic of Singapore, India and Thailand are taking part in the inaugural Singapore-India-Thailand Maritime exercise (SITMEX) from September 16 to 20.

The exercise was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his keynote address at the 14th Shangri-La Dialogue in June 2018. Hosted by India, the exercise comprises a shore phase held at Port Blair, and a sea phase in the Andaman Sea.

The host country is contributing guided missile destroyer INS Ranvir, missile corvette INS Kora, and OPV Sukanya in addition to maritime patrol aircraft. The Republic of Singapore Navy is participating with the Formidable-class frigate RSS Tenacious while Thailand is represented by frigate HTMS Kraburi.

During the sea phase, which is scheduled from September 18 to 20, the ships will carry out a range of surface and air operations involving gunnery, force protection measures and communication drills would be conducted providing experience gaining and learning from each other’s best practices.

“The exercise underscores the shared responsibility of countries to work together to keep sea lines of communication open, and strengthens interoperability between the three navies,” the commanding officer of RSS Tenacious, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Chan, said at the opening ceremony.