MUARA, Thursday, 20 September 2018 – KDB DARUTTAQWA set sail this morning to participate in a number of maritime exercises and engagements scheduled at various locations around the regions of Southeast Asia and East Asia, particularly in the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea and China. The deployment entails Royal Brunei Navy’s (RBN) participation in both bilateral and multi-lateral platforms, beginning with Maritime Training Activity (MTA) SEAGULL 08/18 hosted by Philippine Navy (PN) that will begin in Cebu and end in Bacolod, Philippines on September 23 – 29.
KDB DARUTTAQWA will then proceed to Da Nang, Vietnam for a port visit on October 2 – 5, before proceeding to Jeju Island, South Korea attending the International Fleet Review (IFR) on October 9 – 15, hosted by the Republic of Korean Navy (ROKN) in conjunction of its 70th year Anniversary of Republic of Korea Armed Forces. KDB DARUTTAQWA will then proceed to Zhanjiang, China to participate in the ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise(ACME) 2018 on October 22 – 28, hosted by People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), China. The deployment will end with Exercise PELICAN 37/18, a bilateral exercise with Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
The deployment is led by Commander Md Azrin bin Hj Mahmud, RBN, Commanding Officer of KDB DARULAMAN, with a total complement of 74 personnel. Attending as the Guest of Honour during the farewell event was Captain Zil Husam bin Hj Abd Rahman, Fleet Commander. Also present were senior officers, officers and RBN personnel, as well as families of the participating personnel. To bless the event, recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat was led by Ustaz Muhd Rafi’uddin bin Haji Muhd Ali of Naval Training Centre.
This deployment marks another milestone in RBN’s trajectory in consolidating herself as a competent, reliable and adaptive maritime partner in both multi- lateral and bilateral networks. It is through these maritime exercises and engagements that Brunei Darussalam and RBN establish cooperative ties regionally and internationally, in building mutual understanding and enhancing standard procedural interoperability.
