KAKADU 2018: INS Sahyadri builds bridges of friendship in Australia's largest maritime exercise

INS Sahyadri, Australian Navy ship HMAS Stuart and New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Te Mana operating together at sea during the Sea phase of Exercise Kakadu (Image courtesy: Indian Navy)

DARWIN: Exercise KAKADU 2018, Australia's largest maritime exercise which wrapped up on Friday, witnessed the participation 23 ships including Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri.

Apart from the 23 ships, the sea phase of KAKADU-18 saw 21 aircraft, one submarine and over 3000 personnel from 27 nations participating.

Exercise KAKADU is a joint-enabled, biennial exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force. It aims to foster and strengthen effective security and humanitarian partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region through a series of training and engagement activities.

Exercise KAKADU began on August 30.

#BridgesofFriendship #INSSahyadri, @Australian_Navy HMAS Stuart and #NewZealandNavy ship HMNZS Te Mana operating together at sea during the Sea phase of #ExKakadu pic.twitter.com/R31JdizuIV

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) September 11, 2018

INS Sahyadri had entered the Port of Darwin, Australia, on August 29. The ship was deployed in the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean for over four months, which included representing the Navy in multinational exercises MALABAR 18 at Guam and RIMPAC 18 at Hawaii.

Earlier, INS Sahyadri won the KAKADU 18 Cup, a multi-activity competition which included running, swimming, crossing land and water obstacles and kayaking, defeating 23 teams from as many countries.

"Indian Navy's participation in KAKADU-18 provides an excellent opportunity to engage with regional partners and undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment, aimed at enhancing interoperability and development of a common understanding of procedures for maritime operations," said the Indian Navy said in a statement earlier.

Held every two years, Exercise Kakadu began in 1993. This year's participating nations included Australia, India, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Vietnam.