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Singapore is hosting more than 2000 personnel from the military, coast guard, customs and other agencies of 13 countries in Exercise Deep Sabre, the first Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise to be held in South-east Asia.
The sea phase began with the deployment of maritime and air assets from participating countries to detect, localise and track the merchant ship (simulated by MV Avatar) transporting the illegal shipment of dual-use chemicals.
Once located, a request was made for the ship to voluntarily divert to port for a search. When the ship’s master refused, flag state consent was sought, and given, for the ship to be interdicted and diverted to Singapore for the port search.
A team from the Republic of Singapore Navy’s (RSN) Naval Diving Unit (NDU) was the first to board the vessel. After the ship was secured by the NDU team, follow-on forces from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive (CBRE) Defence Group, the Japan Coast Guard and Australian Customs Service boarded the vessel and conducted a preliminary search and investigation. Following indications of a suspicious cargo on board, the ship was escorted to Singapore’s port for a detailed search by domestic enforcement agencies.
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