PORT KLANG: Some 100 Malaysian Armed Forces personnel participated in the Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Management (HADR) training exercise with 100 Australian Defence Forces (ADF) personnel at the Royal Malaysian Navy naval base in Pulau Indah here today.
The exercise, which involved the navy, army and air force, was conducted aboard the HMAS Adelaide ship.
HMAS Adelaide, Australia’s largest and newest Canberra-class combat ship, made its maiden port call to Port Klang on Sept 30, on a goodwill mission.
HMAS Adelaide Commanding Officer Captain Jonathan Earley said the training is aimed at providing a platform to better equip Australia and its regional partners, such as Malaysia, to go for HDAR missions when needed.
“We are pleased to work with the Malaysian Armed Forces as we get to show our capabilities and to strengthen the relationship between Malaysia and Australia.
“The exercise was held to train officials and armed forces members to rush to the aid of affected areas in any event of natural disasters in the future.
“They are undergoing training exercise, which covers instructions, control and communication in water or beach, access to roads and ports, medical and hygiene support, and various disaster management assistance,” he said on the HMAS Adelaide after the exercise.
Earley said HMAS Adelaide is leading a task group of five other Australian Navy warships, HMAS Darwin, Melbourne, Toowoomba, Parramatta, and Sirius for the Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) 2017.
These ships would visit nations across the region.
“The training exercise is conducted in stages involving personnel from Southeast Asia countries, starting with Indonesia and Malaysia. We will head to the Philippines after this,” he said.
Meanwhile, one of the 25 Royal Malay Regiments platoon chief Captain Muhamad Nizam Wasiullah, described the exercise and cooperation involving both nations and all three branches of the armed forces, as an effective effort.
“It offers a good training environment and gives us an opportunity to check out the ship’s facilities.
“ADF also gave us a good explanation of the ship’s facilities and capabilities. The ship is equipped with medical facilities and can accommodate 75 patients at any one time,” he added.
HMAS Adelaide was designed to provide HADR during natural disasters or emergencies in the region.
The vessel, which will dock at Port Klang until Oct 5, is equipped with the necessary facilities such as a hospital with two operating theatres.
The 32-metre wide ship could accommodate 12 helicopters, has four landing craft for stores and personnel transport, and up to 110 engineering and logistics vehicles.