The Royal Australian Navy continues to strengthen maritime readiness through officer-of-the-watch manoeuvres with regional partner nations in waters off Australia's northern coast during Exercise Kakadu.
Participants included the Indian Navy's INS Nilgiri, the Royal Malaysian Navy's KD Lekir, the Philippine Navy's BRP Diego Silang and the Royal Thai Navy's HTMS Naresuan.
While transiting down Australia's east coast to Sydney for the Kakadu Fleet Review, the ships worked together with Bay-class landing ship dock HMAS Choules to conduct evolutions at sea.
These evolutions, culminating in a formation foxtrot, enhanced interoperability, sharpened ship-handling proficiency and reinforced the ability of participating forces to operate as a coordinated maritime task group.
Choules navigating officer Lieutenant Commander Mitchel Dupen described the complexities of the serials.
"During a formation foxtrot, all the task group ships reverse the order of ships in column, so starting from the back, each ship pulls out to port (left) or starboard (right) as directed and speeds up to pass the lead ship," Lieutenant Commander Mitchel Dupen said.
"We rely heavily on communication, and if not done correctly, it could be disastrous."
Commander Maritime Australian Task Group Captain Darin MacDonald commended all the personnel involved.
"Enhancing our relationships with regional partners through cooperative activities like this allows us to strengthen our interoperability," Captain Darin MacDonald said.
"Together, we are ensuring our crews and vessels remain prepared to respond decisively and at short notice when called upon."
