SURABAYA, Friday 21 July 2017 - The Initial Planning Conference (IPC) for the 3rd Multilateral Naval Exercise KOMODO 2018 (MNEK) was conducted from Wednesday, 19th July 2017 until Friday, 21st July 2017, hosted Indonesia Navy (IDN) at Wyndham Hotel, Surabaya Indonesia.
27 delegates from 17 nations attended the 3 days conference. Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) was represented by Commander Khairil Haji Abdul Rahman, Chief of Staff RBN.
The IPC was officiated by Rear Admiral Darwanto, Eastern Fleet Commander in his welcoming address expressed his appreciation for countries’ participation in the IPC and those who participated in the 2nd MNEK 2016 in Padang, Indonesia. He highlighted that KOMODO Exercise is a non-war fighting exercise to actualise the maritime partnership in the region and to build trust among navies and nations.
First Admiral Jayadi, in his capacity as the Commander Task Group for MNEK 2018, states that the theme of the exercise is “Cooperation to Respond Disaster and Humanitarian Issues”. The objective of the IPC was mainly to discuss matters pertaining ships, aircrafts and logistical support throughout the 3rd MNEK 2018. The exercise is schedule to be conducted from the 4th until 9th May 2018, held at Lombok Island and Nusa Penida Island.