EX PACIFIC REACH 2007
1. The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) participated in a multilateral
submarine exercise code-named Exercise PACIFIC REACH 07 from 26 November to
7 December 2007. The exercise, hosted by the Royal Australian Navy in
Perth, Western Australia, aimed to develop regional Submarine Escape and
Rescue (SMER) capabilities, as well as to build mutual trust in submarine
rescue among the participating navies. These include Canada, China, Japan,
Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. Military
observers from seven other countries namely, Chile, India, Indonesia,
Pakistan, Peru, Russia and South Africa, as well as NATO headquarters were
also present at the exercise.
2. A specially-configured submarine rescue support vessel from the RSN
and its 14 crew members conducted submarine rescue exercises with the other
submarines. This year's exercise featured new SMER training such as
transferring emergency life support stores and personnel to a submarine in
distress. Mine hunters and mine disposal vehicles also took part in the
exercise.
3. This exercise was the fourth in the series. It was previously hosted
by Singapore in 2000, Japan in 2002 and South Korea in 2004.
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