Exercise Deep Sabre was a multi-national

maritime interdiction Maritime Interception (or naval interdiction) operations (MIOs) are naval operations that aim to delay, disrupt, or destroy enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area before they do any harm against friendly forces, similar to air interd ...

exercise conducted in August 2005 in

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. Launched at the

Changi Naval Base Changi Naval Base (CNB), officially known as RSS ''Singapura'' – Changi Naval Base, is a naval base of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN). Located about 1.5 kilometres east of Changi Air Base (East) and 3.5 kilometres east of Singapore Ch ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, the exercise was part of the

Proliferation Security Initiative The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. ...

. It involved some 2,000 personnel from the military, coast guard, customs and other agencies of 13 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US. Ten ships and six

maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, maritime surveillance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over ...

were involved in the exercise that aimed to develop and practice effective procedures to prevent the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

Sea Phase

The sea phase of the exercise was conducted during 15-17 August 2005. It 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 The flag state of a merchant vessel is the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is Ship registration, registered or licensed, and is deemed the nationality of the vessel. A merchant vessel must be registered and can only be registered in one j ...

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 The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the Naval warfare, maritime Military branch, service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any seaborne threats and as a guarantor of its sea lines of ...

’s 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 The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive Defence Group The HQ Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive Defence Group is a group formed by various Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) units to enhance counter-terrorism capabilities and provide an immediate response in the event of chemical and biologic ...

, the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard responsible for the protection of the Geography of Japan#Composition, topography and geography, coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It consists of about ...

and

Australian Customs Service The Australian Customs Service was an Australian Government agency responsible for Australian border protection, duties and taxes between 1985 and 2009. The Service was first under the portfolio of the Department of Industry, Technology and Com ...

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.

Port Search Phase

From Aug 15-19 2005 joint government and military teams searched cargo container in Singapore's Pasir Panjang Scanning Station for weapons of mass destruction.

External links

Singapore hosts multi-national anti-WMD maritime exercise
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Channel NewsAsia CNA (an initialism of Channel NewsAsia) is a Singapore-based multinational news channel owned by Mediacorp, the country's state-owned media conglomerate. The network is broadcast in Singapore on free-to-air terrestrial television and Mediacorp ...

(15 August, 2005) Arms control Counterterrorism in Singapore Foreign relations of Singapore