The Indian warship INS Sukanya (P50) and the Chinese warship, PLANS Yuncheng stood only 2.5 cable lengths (450 metres) from each other yesterday. No, it wasn't a stand-off on the seas. They were taking part in a three-day joint sea exercise in the Bay of Bengal.

 Commodore SA Deodhar operated the INS Sukanya as its commanding officer (CO), while Captain Mei Luyang operated the PLANS Yuncheng in the Bay of Bengal within the Bangladesh maritime boundary.  The naval drill—International Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) 2017—was inaugurated by President Md Abdul Hamid on Monday.

For the first time, the Bangladesh Navy has organised the international joint sea exercise this year. As many as 39 more warships from five countries took part in the exercise.  When BNS Bijoy, a warship of the Bangladesh Navy, reached the deep sea (40 nautical miles from Cox’s Bazar), the sailors of the ship saw a merchant ship, named MV Nou Kollan, on fire. The commanding officer (CO) of BNS Bijoy, Commander Fazlar Rahman, ordered his crew to douse the fire.

Another warship, BNS Dhaleswari, which was nearby, rushed to join the fire-fighting operation. Two choppers—one from BNS Bangabandhu and another from INS Ranvir—flew to the spot to lend support. The choppers flew back to their mother vessels after the fire was put out within 40 minutes.  The exercise, under IMMSAREX 2017, was a demonstration of how to conduct search and rescue operations on the sea.

A senior officer of BNS Bijoy said that the Indian warship INS Ranvir led  the rescue operation in the demo-incident. Three other foreign warships—those of China, Indonesia and Iran—watched the operation from a distance.

The senior officer said that with INS Sukanya, three other war ships—INS Gharial, INS Sahyadri and INS Rajput—of the Indian navy also took part in the IMMSAREX 2017 manoeuvres.

Besides these ships, the Indian navy also brought one maritime patrol aircraft and two helicopters in the drill   as a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).

Indian navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba led the Indian delegation. Rear Admiral Wang Houbin was led the Chinese fleet.

The Chinese navy was present as an observer country among a total of nine observers—Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, France, Indonesia, Russia and the United Kingdom.