ID :
369064
Thu, 05/28/2015 - 06:42
Auther :

After MH370, China's Haixun 31 Makes Comeback To Malaysia's Waters

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa PULAU PAYA (Kedah, Malaysia), May 28 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN Regional Forum-Disaster Relief Excercise 2015 (ARF-DiREx) maritime search and rescue (SAR) exercise sees the involvement of China's vessel Haixun 31 - the ship which participated in a joint operation to locate the vanished Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370. Master of MV Haixun 31, Chen Qinli said the ship's involvement in the search operation for Flight MH370 lasted about two months, and it was one of the biggest and longest SAR missions conducted. "It was one of the biggest, longest rescue missions we have been involved in, and the journey from China to the Indian Ocean was not easy," he told Bernama here Wednesday. Haixun 31, a vessel attached to the South China Sea Division for Marine Patrol and Law Enforcement of China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), measures 114 metres in length, 13.8 metres in width and has a maximum speed of 22 knots. Commenting on Wednesday's SAR excercise, he expressed satisfaction with the performances of the officers and their professionalism. Meanwhile, Penang Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) enforcement and exercise officer Lt Commander Suhaizan Saadin said today's excercise included the surface SAR, water rescue and oil spill rescue. He said, among agencies involved in the SAR excercise was MMEA, Royal Malaysian Police, Fire and Rescue Department and Marine Department, as well as China's vessels such as Haixun 31, and Dong Hai Jiu 101. Thailand and India have also joined the SAR excercise. This excercise, he said, could help improve and strengthen the efficiency of foreign countries, in the event of a disaster striking the region. ARF-DiREx 2015, co-hosted by Malaysia and China is aimed at testing the civil-military coordination efforts, creating synergy and synchronising efforts towards supporting the effective implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response as the common platform for disaster management of the region. (photoBERNAMA) --BERNAMA

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