A thousand sailors from more than 30 countries are getting ready to take the plunge in the largest submarine rescue exercise to taking place in Australia.
Pacific Reach is a two-week-long Navy exercise held in the waters of Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, to promote regional cooperation on submarine rescue.
This year's exercise, the fourth in the series, is being hosted by Australia, with our sailors joining ships, submarines, rescue vessels and divers from eight countries and naval observers from another 24 nations.
Ships from around Australia and the Pacific Rim have been coming alongside HMAS Stirling on Garden Island all this week and are preparing to get their Exercise underway.
Exercise Director Captain Peter Scott, himself a former Collins Class Submarine commander who is no stranger to submarine emergencies, said it was important to build teamwork and trust during Pacific Reach to be ready for any potential submarine incident.
"We need to be prepared and this exercise is all about being prepared to save life at sea," he said.
During this first week of Pacific Reach the multi-national sailors are working together and sharing their skills in 'work-ups' and emergency response procedures at the Naval base.
And members of all the participating the nations understand the need to practice interoperability.
"It's very important when working together with other countries that we appreciate how the other one will respond," Chief Petty Officer Robert MacKay, from the Canadian Navy's Fleet Diving Unit, said.
Royal Australian Navy Clearance Divers from Western Australia teamed up with their colleagues from Canada, Singapore and for the first time, the Peoples' Republic of China, to thoroughly rehearse rescue drills before they go to sea next week.
Each country brings unique and special skills and equipment to the Exercise.
The Canadians have come with an Emergency Life Support System, a carousel-shaped frame containing a five cylindrical containers, known as "pods" which rescuers use to deliver medical and emergency supplies and survival equipment into a stricken submarine through its escape hatch. This pod posting exercise can sustain life whilst the submarine crew await a recovery.
The South Koreans, like the Australians have brought their own submarine, the 1200 ton
Lee Eok-Gi, a German-designed diesel electric submarine.
The Japanese Navy ship Chihaya is a purpose-built saturation diving platform which can launch a DSRV (deep submergence rescue vehicle), or mini-sub, to mate with a submarine in distress.
All the foreign participants were run-through demonstrations at HMAS Stirling's Submarine Escape Rescue Centre. This state-of the art facility with its 20 metre high water tank is the only one of its kind in Australia and provides realistic training to sailors ascending from the submarine hatch to the surface wearing escape suits.
After this week of alongside training the exercise participants will take their submarines and specialized equipment to sea (starting on Sunday 2 Dec) to practice more complex escape and rescue drills in Cockburn Sound.
Exercise Pacific Reach is a triennial Asia-Pacific submarine rescue exercise designed to promote regional cooperation on submarine rescue. The exercise this year is the fourth in the series and is being hosted by Australia between 26 November and 07 December 2007. Pacific Reach 07 is a significant exercise involving six ships, three submarines, two submarine rescue systems, a multi-national dive team and the UK Royal Navy Submarine Parachute Assistance Group (SPAG ).
Pacific Reach involves 1000 personnel from eight nations including Canada, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Malaysia Singapore, United States and the United Kingdom. In addition, military observers from Chile, India, Indonesia, NATO, Pakistan, Peru, Russia and South Africa are attending.
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