MUARA NAVAL BASE, Thursday 29th August 2019 – KDB DARULAMAN set sail this morning to participate in the two multilateral exercises namely, Southeast Asian Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) and ASEAN-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX). Exercise SEACAT will be held on Friday, 30th August 2019 in Brunei waters whereas AUMX will be held from 2 – 5 September 2019 in the Gulf of Thailand.
The deployment is led by Commander Sonny Iskandar bin Rasani, Commanding Officer of KDB DARULAMAN, with a complement of sixty four personnel. Present as the Guest of Honour during the farewell event was Commander Haji Nor Ariwwin bin Haji Ali, Acting Fleet Commander, RBN. Also present to send off the officers and personnel of KDB DARULAMAN were RBN senior officers, officers, personnel and family members. To bless the event, a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat was read prior to the ship’s departure.
The aim of SEACAT is to improve regional cooperation with greater complexity through increased information sharing, technology and modernization. Whereas the purpose of AUMX is to implement the ASEAN-US Strategic Partnership, which is aimed to ‘promote maritime security and safety, freedom of navigation and overflight (and) unimpeded commerce … in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law’.
Both exercises grants RBN the opportunity to collaborate and coordinate the sharing of information in working towards a common understanding of the existing maritime domain. The sea exercises marks an important step for RBN in establishing a robust maritime partnership in the region.
KDB DARULAMAN is expected to return back to Brunei Darussalam on Tuesday, 10th September 2019.
