Two (02) Royal Australian Navy ships in Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022 arrive at the Port of Colombo

Two (02) ships of the Royal Australian Navy, namely; HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Anzac which are engaged in Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022 arrived at the Port of Colombo this morning (25th October 2022). On their arrival, the visiting ships were welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in accordance with naval tradition.

Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) began in 2017 as an activity coordinated by the Australian Defence Force to strengthen Australia’s engagement and partnerships with regional security forces. Thus, this year’s IPE will return to Southeast and South Asia, consolidating partnerships with 14 countries such as Timor-Leste, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives and India.

Accordingly, two of the Royal Australian Navy ships taking part in IPE arrived in Colombo today. Commodore Mal Wise of Royal Australian Navy is the Commander Joint Task Force for Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022.

The visiting ship HMAS Adelaide which is a 230m-long Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) is commanded by Captain SJ Watters. She also has 08 ship-borne attack helicopters and 543 crew members. Similarly, HMAS Anzac which is a 118m-long Frigate is commanded by Commander DM MCPHERSON. She is manned by a crew of 119 and the ship also possesses a ship-borne attack helicopter.

In the meantime, Commander Joint Task Force for Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022, Commodore Mal Wise called on Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne at the Navy Headquarters today (25th October). During the ensuing interaction they exchanged views on several matters of bilateral importance and mementoes were also exchanged to mark the importance of the occasion.

As part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022, the Royal Australian Navy has arranged Amphibious Operations seminar and programmes to exchange best practices for Sri Lankan counterpart. In addition, a group of Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force personnel are also expected to visit the duo of ships in Colombo. During their stay in the island, the crews of HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Anzac will take part in some programmes organized by the Sri Lanka Navy, with a view to further strengthen the cooperation and goodwill between both navies.

At their departure, HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Anzac will conduct a naval exercise with the Sri Lanka Navy off Colombo on 26th October. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Navy relishes maritime cooperation and camaraderie built upon similar engagements, as they will be vital when responding to common maritime challenges in future.