HMAS Maitland departs for Exercise Milan 2008

14 January 2008

Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Armidale Class Patrol Boat (ACPB) HMAS Maitland deployed on Saturday 5th January from Darwin, for her maiden South-East Asian deployment. The highlight of the deployment will be Maitland's participation in Exercise MILAN 2008 in Port Blair, located in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Exercise MILAN has been running since 1995 and is organised by the Indian Defence Force as a meeting of Asia-Pacific navies to discuss regional maritime security. The gathering has come to be known as 'MILAN', the Hindi word for 'meeting'. Since its inception, the exercise has continued to build greater mutual understanding and closer cooperation between participating Navies.

MILAN has grown from a small congregation of five nations to nine during 2006 with 20 ships attending from eight countries. In 2008, 13 nations have been invited to participate. This is the first time an Australian ship has been deployed to participate in the multinational exercise.

The ship's company will also get the opportunity to promote the RAN's relationship with other Navies through port visits to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The deployment reflects the ongoing importance of fostering already close relationships between other regional Navies.