HMCS Calgary visits Indonesia, exercises with Indonesian Navy

Commander Mark O’Donohue, HMCS Calgary Commanding Officer; Cdr Meghan Coates, Executive Officer; and Chief Petty Officer First Class Mark Chambers, Coxswain, stand on the ship’s forecastle as Cameron MacKay, Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste; Diedrah Kelly, Canadian Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; Colonel Andrew Cleveland, Canadian Defence Attaché to Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei and Timor-Leste; and two of their staff members wave farewell from the jetty as the ship was alongside in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 2.

Captain Jeff Klassen, HMCS Calgary
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HMCS Calgary enhanced its naval partnership and Canadian-Indonesian relations during a technical visit to Jakarta on July 1 to 3 as part of Operation Projection.

During this visit the ship had several interactions with Indonesian ships including a multi-ship escort upon its sail into Jakarta and a flashing light communications exercise with the multi-role corvette KRI Bung Tomo.

“We greatly appreciated the opportunity to enhance our interoperability with the Indonesian Navy during our visit to Jakarta,” said Commander Mark O’Donohue, Calgary’s Commanding Officer. “Conducting cooperative deployments with other capable navies in the region demonstrates our ability to work together and contribute to Indo-Pacific maritime security and stability.”

While in Jakarta, on July 2, Calgary crew had a socially distanced visit with Ambassador Deidrah Kelly from the Mission of Canada to ASEAN and Ambassador Cameron MacKay with the Embassy of Canada to Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The ship’s Executive Officer, Commander Megan Coates, and Ambassador Cameron MacKay held a virtual press conference with local media. They spoke about Canada-Indonesia bilateral relations and the importance of maintaining military interoperability between nations.

“The visit of HMCS Calgary to Jakarta is a concrete demonstration of Canada’s growing partnership with Indonesia, and our joint commitment to peace, security, sustainability, and prosperity at home and abroad,” said Ambassador MacKay.

Upon sailing out of Indonesian waters, Calgary was met by the ocean-going tug KRI Soputan. The two ships exchanged honours before Calgary proceeded on its course to the coast of Australia where it will work with other regional partner navies on Exercise Talisman Sabre from mid-end July.