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Singapore Hosts PSI Exercise “Deep Sabre”
Southeast Asia’s first maritime drills aimed at countering WMD trafficking opened today in Singapore, with 13 nations participating, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 5). The exercise, code-named “Deep Sabre,” was sponsored by the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, a program aimed at interdicting illicit WMD-related shipments on the high seas (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug. 17). Today’s drill involved the search for a tanker suspected of carrying chemical weapons precursors. Participants detected and tracked the Libyan-flagged vessel with aircraft and ships, the Associated Press reported. “Once located, a request was made for the ship to voluntarily divert to port for a search,” Singapore’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. “When the ship’s master refused, flag state consent was sought, and given, for the ship to be interdicted and diverted to Singapore for the port search,” the statement says. A Singaporean navy diving team then boarded the suspect vessel. Other Singaporean military units and officials from the Japanese Coast Guard and Australian Customs Service followed, according to AP (Associated Press/Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 17). There is an “extreme likelihood” of proliferation occurring in the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, British Royal Navy Commander Richard Powell told Reuters. “The vast majority of proliferation takes place at sea. Singapore is right on the edge of a choke point through the Malacca Strait. It is geographically important,” Powell said (Reuters, Aug. 17).
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