The 31st edition of the Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) was held from October 23-29, in the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam. Republic of Singapore Navy Ship RSS Tenacious with embarked helicopter, arrived at Visakhapatnam on October 23 for participating in SIMBEX-2024.

The exercise was conducted in two phases: the harbour phase from October 23-25 at Visakhapatnam and the sea phase from October 28-29 in the Bay of Bengal. This year’s edition aimed to further strengthen the strategic partnership between India and Singapore by enhancing interoperability, improving maritime domain awareness, and fostering cooperation to address common maritime challenges.

The harbour phase included subject matter expert exchanges (SMEEs), cross-deck visits, sports fixtures, and pre-sail briefings between personnel from both navies. The sea phase witnessed advanced naval drills, including live weapon firings, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training, anti-surface and anti-air operations, seamanship evolutions, and tactical manoeuvres. The opening ceremony to mark the beginning of SIMBEX-24 was held on October 24, onboard INS Shivalik and was attended by participating units of the Eastern Fleet and the Singapore Navy.

SIMBEX, which began as ‘Exercise Lion King’ in 1994, has evolved into one of the most significant bilateral maritime collaborations between the Indian Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

Maritime Partnership Exercise: Around the same time, Indian Navy’s Destroyer INS Delhi, German Navy’s Frigate Baden-Württemberg and Tanker Frankfurt Am Main undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) in the Indian Ocean. The exercises included cross deck flying operations, underway replenishment, weapon firing and tactical manoeuvres.

The maiden IN-GN’s MPX in the Bay of Bengal was aimed at strengthening the maritime connect between the two nations and interoperability between the navies. INS Delhi is the lead ship of her class of guided missile destroyers and is part of the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy. Baden-Württemberg is the lead ship of the F125 class of German Navy frigates. Frankfurt Am Main is the second ship of the Berlin-class replenishment ships of the German Navy.