Australian Navy Ships Receive Official Welcome on Goodwill Visit to Surabaya

Commanders and crew of the Royal Australian Navy warships HMAS Tobruk and HMAS Toowoomba will be officially welcomed at Jamrud Utara Berth in Surabaya tomorrow, 25 September, to commence a goodwill visit to Indonesia. The two ships are part of a larger Australian four ship task group, which saw HMAS Success and HMAS Arunta arrive in Makassar today.

The ships will arrive with more than 450 crew onboard for a three day visit (25 – 28 September 2010) to Indonesia. They will depart again with Indonesian Navy ships on 28 September, and continue their visit to other Southeast Asian nations. During the visit, the crew will participate in social and professional activities with the Indonesian Navy, further strengthening the relationship between the two countries.

The commanding officer of Tobruk, Commander Paul Scott, said the Royal Australian Navy enjoyed visiting Indonesia and working with the Indonesian Navy. “The relationship between Royal Australian Navy and the Indonesian Navy is very strong, and is based on professional respect and friendship. We have been working hard together to develop our partnership across a broad range of naval and security matters including strategic level discussions, training and education, exercises and operational cooperation,” he said.

Tobruk is an amphibious landing ship designed to transport personnel, vehicles and equipment, while Toowoomba is an Anzac Class frigate.

The Australian Defence Attaché, Brigadier Gary Hogan, said cooperation in maritime security was a key element of the Agreement between Indonesia and Australia on the Framework for Security Cooperation (Lombok Treaty). Regular ship visits and exercises strengthened the relationship, and enabled the two Navies to operate together effectively.

As part of the ships’ visit to Surabaya, students and teachers from a number of local BRIDGE schools will also have an opportunity to visit the ships and meet the commanders and crew. BRIDGE is an Australian Government student and teacher exchange program which commenced in 2008. 91 teachers from 47 Indonesian schools in 7 provinces (Jakarta, South Sumatra, Bali, East Java, South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and West Kalimantan) have visited Australia under the BRIDGE program as a way of forging ongoing relationships between schools in both countries.

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Sanchi Davis, Public Affairs, tel. (021) 2550 5260 mob. 0811 936 302