While patrolling the maritime boundary of Lebanon in the Mediterranean Sea yesterday, sailors on board BNS Nirmul, a Bangladesh Navy ship, spotted four enemy ships. They immediately alerted the ship’s duty officer, who forwarded the information to the captain.

Getting the information, the captain of BNS Nirmul, Commander ANM Istiak Jahan Faruqui, asked all his officers and sailors to “prepare for war”. He also asked the principal warfare officer (PWO) to take steps to target and destroy the enemy ships. 

The officers immediately stationed themselves in the ship’s combat information centre (CIC) to conduct the battle against the enemy ships. 

After observing the position of the enemy ships, the captain ordered his men to destroy them by using anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-surface missiles and anti-submarine rocket depth charges. Following the order, the officers and sailors of BNS Nirmul started firing on the enemy ships and destroyed all of them.

However, it was not a real war. BNS Nirmul was taking part in a sea exercise in the Mediterranean Sea bay to ensure security and peace along the Lebanese maritime boundary. When this correspondent visited the Bangladeshi warship yesterday, the naval personnel had completed the 10-minute war game successfully.

The Bangladeshi peacekeepers were working under the Bangladesh Contingent (Bancon-8) with the Maritime Task Force (MTF) of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL).

Apart from the war game, the peacekeepers also conducted a firefighting exercise on the warship.

Lt Commander Saifur Rahman, executive officer of BNS Nirmul, told The Independent that they were also conducting medical evacuation exercises, manoeuvring exercises and replacement in the sea regularly as per MTF regulations. “We are working on these types of exercises in collaboration with other foreign warships in the Mediterranean Sea on a regular basis,” he said.

“We are dispensing our responsibilities by working together with the peacekeepers from five other countries—Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Indonesia and Greece—to establish peace and stability in Lebanon and ensure its national security,” he added.

The officer said that they were also providing medical facilities to the Bangladeshi expatriates in cooperation with the Bangladesh embassy in Beirut as medical treatment in Lebanon was very costly.

On his part, the BNS Nirmul captain informed: “In Lebanon, we are known as ‘Blue Helmet’. We are working with the naval forces of five other nations.”

Commander Faruqui said that their exercises with the UN had helped to boost the image of Bangladesh and its naval forces. “During the past seven years, we have proved that we are very much capable of our duties and responsibilities. We have even earned the UN peace model for our work in peacekeeping,” he added.

AS Maniruzzaman, assistant navigating officer of BNS Nirmul, said that the main challenge faced by them was adapting to the new environment of the Mediterranean Sea. “But we did so within the shortest possible time,” he added.

“We are working here (Lebanon), which is 13,000 km away from Bangladesh, with sincerity. When we miss our family members, we communicate with them through audio or video calls,” he said.

In November, an international naval drill within the Bangladesh maritime boundary —International Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) 2017—was inaugurated by President Md Abdul Hamid in the Bay of Bengal. This was for the first time that Bangladesh Navy had organised such an international sea exercise. As many as 39 warships from five countries had participated in the exercise.

Bangladesh Navy has been serving as part of the UNIFIL in Lebanon since 2010. Two Bangladeshi ships, BNS Osman and BNS Madhumati, were deployed there in May of that year. The two ships were deployed in the Mediterranean Sea for four years till June 2014. They were then replaced by BNS Ali Haider and BNS Nirmul.

The Bangladesh Navy is the third Asian and only sub-continental navy to serve in the volatile region.