Royal Brunei Navy's vessels Kapal Diraja Brunei (KDB) Darussalam and KDB Darulaman set sail on Wednesday to participate in exercise Rim of the Pacific ( RIMPAC) that will be held at Hawaii, the United States of America from June 26 to Aug. 1.

Over 140 personnel including officers, crew and technical staff were onboard both ships, led by Lt Col (N) Hj Suhailee and Lt Col (N) Muhd Hadi respectively, to participate for the very first time in the exercise. "There were 71 personnel in each ship, including two female officers in KDB Darulaman," said Lt Col (N) Muhd Hadi, adding that it would also be a great learning experience for the navy in the exercise that involved a total of 31 nations, including eight observer nations.

The exercise is the world's largest international maritime exercise, held biannually and hosted by the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), taking place around the Hawaiian Islands. The exercise will involve 48 naval ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel.

This multilateral naval exercise will run over a five-week period and will be focused primarily on naval operations including Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO), Anti-Surface, Anti-Air and Anti-Submarine Warfare. Endi