NEW DELHI: After having been deployed to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean for over four months, representing Indian Navy in multinational exercises MALABAR 18 at Guam and RIMPAC 18 at Hawaii, INS Sahyadri has now reached the Port of Darwin, Australia to participate in Exercise KAKADU 2018.

Exercise KAKADU, which started in 1993, is a multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The exercise is held biennially in Darwin and the Northern Australian Exercise Areas (NAXA). It derives its name from Kakadu National Park and the 14th edition of the exercise is scheduled from August 29 and would see participation from 23 warships, one submarine, 45 aircraft, 250 marines and about 52 foreign staff from over 25 different countries.

Indian Navy’s participation provides it an excellent opportunity to engage with regional partners and undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment, aimed at enhancing interoperability and development of common understanding of procedures for maritime operations. During the exercise, professional exchanges in harbour and diverse range of activities at sea, including complex surface, sub-surface and air operations would enable sharing of best practices and honing of operational skills.