Australian navy ships on goodwill visit to Surabaya

Jakarta - Commanders and crew of Royal Australian Navy ships HMAS BALLARAT and HMAS PARRAMATTA will be officially welcomed at Jamrud Utara Berth in Surabaya on Saturday as part of a goodwill visit to Indonesia, the Australian embassy in Jakarta said in a press statement here Friday.

HMAS BALLARAT and HMAS PARRAMATTA, which are ANZAC Class frigates, will arrive with more than 350 crew for a three day visit to Indonesia from 16-19 April.

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 HMAS BALLARAT, Commander Guy Blackburn, 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.

The Australian Defense Attache to Indonesia, Brigadier General 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, as well as enabling the two Navies to operate together effectively.

As part of the ships` visit to Surabaya, students and teachers from three local BRIDGE schools will visit the ships and meet the Commanders and crew. BRIDGE is an Australian Government student and teacher exchange program which began in 2008.

Some 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.

source : antaranews.com