The exercise and its theme were highly appreciated and welcomed by all ASEAN member countries, since they were attached to the regional sea-based economies. The exercise’s content focused on issues of shared concerns of ASEAN members, particularly the maintenance of maritime security and safety in the region, disaster-response and marine environmental protection.
Vietnamese naval officers join Thai peers during the exercise
The event happened at a time when the cooperation among ASEAN countries in these fields is still limited while there has been an increasing demand of joint efforts of regional countries to protect and preserve sea environment.
During the at-port exercise, Thai top experts shared the host’s experience on marine environmental protection, disaster-response and the development of "Blue Economy” with representatives from the ASEAN’s navies. All contents of the exercise were conducted as planned, including maritime interception of illegal activities at sea, supply at sea, airborne supply, and naval information and communication activities.
Particularly, the exercise’s contents were created in line with real situation, in which an energy-rich country is the target of an illegal group to illegally release toxic chemicals into the sea. Then, the tactical group of Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam well collaborated to detect, detain and capture the ship with illegal toxic chemicals according to the mock-up.
The exercise presented a great opportunity for the ASEAN’s navies to exchange experience, learn from each other, share information and accelerate cooperation on maintaining maritime security and settling issues at sea. Thus, it strengthened the solidarity and unity among the navies of ASEAN countries, contributing to ensuring maritime security and safety in the area, said Colonel Nguyen Duc Thang, head of the Staff and Operation Section of Frigate 012-Ly Thai To of the Vietnam People’s Navy.
Additionally, the regional navies proposed a code of conduct related to checking and capturing illegal cargo ships in the region, hence permitting them to collaborate in response to any similar potential illegal activities in the future.
The participation of the Vietnamese frigate of 012-Ly Thai To also showed the Vietnam’s goodwill to enhance collaboration with the ASEAN’s navies and armies as a member of the ASEAN Naval Chiefs’ Meeting (ACNM) and the Western Pacific Navy Symposium (WPNS).
Meanwhile, the AMNEX-1, held at the same time with the 11th ASEAN Navy Chiefs' Meeting (ANCM-11) and the International Fleet Review (IFR 2017), contributed to enhancing friendship, trust and solidarity among the navies of ASEAN member countries as well as between the regional nations and other nations across the world for peaceful and quiet seas.
| The ASEAN’s navies have taken part in a number of exercises under the multilateral frameworks such as KOMODO, LIMA, and so on. However, AMNEX-1 was the first multilateral naval exercise that includes the navies of ASEAN member countries only. AMNEX-1 was initiated by the Royal Thai Navy and agreed by all ASEAN member countries at the 8th ASEAN Navy Chiefs' Meeting (ANCM-8) in 2014. Its aim was to enhance mutual understanding and collaboration among the navies of ASEAN’s countries, then to create a multilateral forum among the regional countries to solve the shared maritime issues. |
Translated by Trung Thanh