Singapore Takes Part in SEACAT Naval Exercise

The Singapore-leg of the annual Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) exercise started here on Monday with the participation of the navies from the countries such as Singapore, the United States, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. According to a statement by the Ministry of Defense, the annual SEACAT exercise is taking place from Aug.14 to 22, and the Singapore leg will last two days from Aug. 20 to 21. The Singapore-leg of this year's exercise will involve the tracking of ships transiting through Singapore waters. Liaison officers from the Singapore navy and other Southeast Asian navies will be onboard a U.S. naval platform to compile and analyze data in order to create a shared maritime picture for enhanced situational awareness. Personnel from the Singapore navy will also coordinate the boarding of a U.S. Civil Resource ship that is simulating a merchant vessel suspected of assisting terrorist activities. SEACAT, which started in 2002, is a series of exercises between the U.S. navy and Southeast Asian navies with the aim of enhancing maritime information sharing and the coordination of maritime security responses. (Source: Xinhua)