An Asian joint maritime exercise

The way to learn to work together is to train together, and The Asean Regional Forum (ARF) has been doing that:

The Asean Regional Forum (ARF) has conducted its first-ever exercise, known as Maritime Security Shore Exercise, here.

The two-day exercise, which ended today, was also the first time that member countries had come together for an operational activity under the ambit of the ARF, Singapore's Ministry of Defence said.

"The multilateral shore exercise was designed to promote interoperability and familiarity among the various agencies involved in enhancing maritime security," the ministry said in a statement released at the end of the exercise.

Maritime security experts from the military, law enforcement, port, and policy agencies of ARF member countries participated in a series of inter-agency discussions and table-top exercises.

A simulation exercise was also held at the Singapore navy's tactical training centre at the Changi naval base, which focused on inter-agency as well as international information-sharing and collaborative sense-making, it said.

A total of 102 officials from 21 of the 26 ARF member countries participated in the exercise which the ministry described as a reflection of the recognition by ARF members that multilateral cooperation was necessary to address the transnational nature of maritime challenges.