Australian HMAS Ballarat make port call in Goa

New Delhi, Nov 12: Australian Navy Ship HMAS Ballarat, a frigate, made a port call at Mormugao Port, Goa. The ship was received by officers from Headquarters Goa Naval Area and the Defence Advisor at the Australian High Commission in India.

After completing Phase I of quadrilateral Naval Exercise Malabar at Bay of Bengal,
HMAS Ballarat is proceeding to participate in Phase II of the exercise in Arabian Sea. The ship would be leaving Goa on 13 Nov 20, and the ship's crew is highly excited about exercising with the Aircraft Carrier for the first time.

The ship was received by officers from Headquarters Goa Naval Area and the Defence Advisor at the Australian High Commission in India. After completing Phase I of quadrilateral Naval Exercise Malabar at the Bay of Bengal, HMAS Ballarat is proceeding to participate in Phase II of the exercise in the Arabian Sea, read an official statement.

The first phase of the Malabar exercise among the navies of India, the US, Japan and Australia kickstarted at Visakhapatnam last week.

As part of the Malabar war games, Indian Navy's flagship Vikramaditya and US super carrier Nimitz along with two destroyers of the Australians and Japanese navies will conduct full spectrum exercises between November 17 and 20.

The exercise will take place with at least 70 foreign warships patrolling the area between the Persian Gulf and Arabian. The Chinese PLA's warships are conducting anti-pirate operations off the Gulf of Aden.

The Vikramaditya with MIG-29K fighters and the Nimitz with the F-18 fighters will participate in the war games. The involvement of the other members of the Quad grouping with add to the strength of the multi-operability. All four countries will understand the level of training of each others' navies during this exercise.

The first phase of the Malabar exercise among the navies of India, the US, Japan and Australia started in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, in a reflection of growing congruence in strategic interests of the four nations.