ASEAN HEADLINE- | SINGAPORE: NDP 2024: Navy will respond to simulated ship attack, explosive threat in maritime display
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NDU divers rehearsing for NDP 2024 in the waters of Marina Bay on Aug 3. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
SINGAPORE – In hot pursuit of “intruders” on a black speedboat, a Police Coast Guard (PCG) patrol craft raced across the waters of Marina Bay, sirens blaring.
As the PCG craft closed in on the “intruders”, the latter dropped a simulated bomb into the water and sped off, but they were quickly intercepted by the PCG.
Divers from the Naval Diving Unit (NDU) then swiftly went underwater to detonate the “bomb” and a big spray of water was seen from the surface.
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingThis demonstration by the Republic of Singapore Navy and PCG will be part of the Total Defence 40 Dynamic Defence Display (D3) in this year’s National Day Parade (NDP).
On Aug 3, the media was invited to watch how the PCG and the navy prepared for D3’s maritime segment and to observe their rehearsals for NDP 2024.
The Total Defence display, with 40 assets and more than 400 participants, will simulate various threats, including those in the air, on land and at sea.
The navy, the Singapore Army, Republic of Singapore Air Force, Digital and Intelligence Service, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force will demonstrate how these threats and disruptions are dealt with.
The display will be held at the Padang for the first time, with some performances taking place in the waters of Marina Bay. This is to extend the experience to more spectators at 2024’s parade, which celebrates Singapore’s 59th year of independence.
For the first time in NDP history, the audience will get to see a live demonstration of the navy responding to a simulated attack on a commercial ship in the Singapore Strait. The NDU team will enter the Padang on two combatant craft medium vessels and neutralise the threats on the ship.
The model of the PCG vessel – the 3-Series PC Class patrol craft – involved in the high-speed chase in the Marina Bay area will also be making its NDP debut.
NDU’s Major Lee Zheng Rui, 33, who is in charge of the display’s maritime segment, told the media that one of the biggest challenges he faced was taking naval assets into the Padang – which does not have an organic body of water and is relatively small in size.
He said: “We had to think of how to build a mock-up (of the assets) that accurately depicts what we have at sea, while not giving up on important elements we wanted to show the public.
“We broke the mock-up (commercial) ship into three parts so we could bring them into the Padang separately before joining them together.”
NDU’s Second Warrant Officer Roger Chan Wei Xiong, who coordinated the navy’s activities with other participating entities at the Marina Bay area, said the maritime display team has had eight rehearsals since June 15.
The 35-year-old said: “We go to the Kallang Sea Training Centre in the morning to prepare our boats. Then, we move to the Marina Bay area by 7am to do our rehearsals.”
For 2WO Chan, the difficulty in his role lies in ensuring that different elements of the maritime display came in at the right timing.
“Other than synchronising what’s happening at Marina Bay with the Padang, it’s also about ensuring safety (such that) there are no collisions during the rehearsals.”
Despite rehearsing on weekends and having to get up early, 2WO Chan said the effort is worth it.
“Even though it’s tiring, I’m happy to contribute to NDP because we can showcase our military might to Singaporeans,” he said.
