A show of seamanship in Kochi

About 1,000 personnel of Indian and German navies started a series of 'seamanship' exercises in the Arabian sea, off the Kochi coast this morning, aimed at improving the inter-operability of the two forces.

The exercises, being conducted about 40 to 60 miles off Kochi, were scheduled to last for about ten hours.

Two training ships of the 1st Training Squadron of the Indian Navy -- INS Krishna, a frigate, and INS Tir, with about 300 cadets, sailors and officers onboard were participating in the exercise. Capt N N Rao, the Commander of INS Tir, will be the overall supervisor on the Indian side.

A Chetak helicopter from INS Garuda will also take part in the exercise, a spokesman for the Southern Naval Command in Kochi said.

On the German side, three visiting warships belonging to the 2nd Flotilla -- with Captain Michael Budde as the Commander Task Force -- are taking part.

The German warships, with about 700 personnel onboard, had arrived in Kochi on April five. These were the Air Defence Ship (ADS) FGS Hamburg, FGS Koeln, a frigate, and FGS Berlin, a replenishment tanker.

After Tuesday's exercises, involving the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy, the German warships would sail for Goa, where they would conduct two days of more advanced exercises with two frigates of the Western Naval Command, off Marmugao, from Wednesday.

Seamanship exercises, exchange of personnel and flying exercises would be some of the manoeuvres to be conducted on Tuesday, Capt Budde said.

The exercises with the two frigates of the Western Naval Command, off Marmugao, would be more advanced and technical, including surface warfare, firing and anti-submarine warfare, he said.

This is the third time that the two Navies were conducting a bilateral exercise. The earlier exercises were held in 1997 and 2002, but on a smaller scale, Capt Budde said.

The present round of exercises, the first after the signing of the Indo-German Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2006, were part of the overall effort of the two countries to forge a 'strategic partnership', Rear Admiral Karl W Bollow, Commander, German 2nd Flotilla, had told visiting media persons onboard ADS FGS Hamburg on Monday.

With the two countries being active participants in various UN peacekeeping operations, it was useful for them to have better coordination and understanding of each other's systems and procedures, he said.

Capt Manohar Nambiar, spokesman for the Southern Naval Command, said the exercise would provide a good exposure to the cadets on board INS Tir and INS Krishna. The German ships had arrived in Kochi on April five after conducting a three-week exercise with the South African Navy. After the three-day exercises with the Indian Navy, the German ships would leave for home via Oman and Egypt.

German Ambassador Bernd Mützelburg was also present in Kochi during the warships' visit.