VLADIVOSTOK, Russia. MARCH 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Three ships from Russia's Pacific Fleet will enter the Singapore Strait on Friday to take part in an Indonesian-led multilateral Southeast Asian naval exercise Komodo, fleet spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov said on Thursday.
"The coastal part of the exercise will take place in the Indonesian port of Batan, where sailors from 16 countries will hold conferences to coordinate their actions on land and at sea. The active phase of the maneuvers will take place in the southern part of the South China Sea on April 1 and 2," Martov told Interfax-AVN.
He said Komodo would involve training joint maneuvering, search and rescue operations and tugging a damaged ship by auxiliary vessels. There would be communications sessions and helicopter exercises as well.
A Pacific Fleet marine unit would take part in training assistance to populations in a tsunami-stricken area during the final part of Komodo.
The fleet's destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, tanker Irkut and rescue vessel Alatau set off from Vladivostok in mid-March, Martov said.