Sydney welcomes good friends and partners

HMAS Sydney conducted multiple cross-deck and boarding exercises during the sea phase of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) in the waters off Hawaii.

In two days of activities, crews from Sydney, HMCS Regina HMNZS Te Mana and USS Decatur crossed decks for boarding exercises, ship familiarisation tours and relationship building.

These ships put RIMPAC’s focus on building military-to-military and people-to-people links at the centre of the cross-deck and boarding exercise objectives.

Sydney crew members donned life jackets and took a RHIB to the neighbouring ship Decatur, while crew from Decatur exercised boarding Sydney.

Meanwhile, crew from Canadian ship Regina negotiated choppy waters during a sea boat transfer to Sydney.

Assistant marine engineering officer, SBLT Haden Hurd, welcomed crew on board, escorting Canadian counterparts around the ship.

“They were particularly interested in the similarities and differences between the two ships,” SBLT Hurd said.

“Despite both ships being similar in length, they found Sydney's agility and manoeuvrability particularly impressive given her greater displacement.”

Master Sailor Nathaniel Lewis, a communications technician from London, Ontario, said it was a fascinating couple of hours on board.

“Everyone was friendly. It was really interesting working out what people were saying, as you tend to shorten all the words,” he said.

Getting to know your oppos – short for opposite number, the person doing the same job in another watch or ship – is all part of the international relationship-building exercise.

While crews were crossing decks via sea boats, embarked helicopters were also hopping from deck to deck. Te Mana’s embarked helicopter 'Kraken' landed on Sydney’s deck.

Flight 607 aviation warfare officer SBLT Clayton Alexander said conducting cross-deck operations provided greater understanding of international aviation procedures.

“Conducting a helicopter cross-deck with our allies and partners is an exciting evolution. It gives the team an opportunity for networking with international aviators and provides enhanced interoperability and trust between nations.”

After a sunrise replenishment at sea with Canadian supply ship MV Asterix to top up fuel supplies, crews lowered their respective sea boats for more training.

LEUT Luke Spencer led the Australian boarding party during multiple boarding exercises involving Sydney, Te Mana and Regina.

“The teams were highly professional and keen to work together to safely execute the boardings between each ship,” LEUT Spencer said.

“It was a great opportunity for our boarding party to practise our procedures on an unfamiliar ship and to engage with the Canadian and New Zealand teams to learn and improve.”

Sydney’s sea boat coxswain during the transfers, LS Mitchell Chugg, said it was an exhilarating and challenging couple of days.

“The conditions were rough so it was interesting to see how other ships adapt to the conditions and conduct transfers in challenging sea states,” he said.

CO Sydney CMDR Hayden Jenkins said the cross-deck and boarding exercises provided excellent opportunities for RIMPAC participants to learn from one another.

“RIMPAC cross-deck activities provided an excellent opportunity for Sydney to further interoperability between regional allies and partners,” CMDR Jenkins said.

“The conduct of RIMPAC cross-deck and boarding activities demonstrated aviation, small-boat and seamanship capabilities.

“These critical functions underpin the operation of warships at sea, with Sydney building on the vast experience and skill sets that have been developed since Australia’s first RIMPAC participation in 1971.”