New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa
Media Release

Thursday 1 June, 2006

New Zealand Frigate To Visit India

Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS TE MANA will visit India from 2 to 13 June calling into Cochin and Mumbai.

During the ship's visit the New Zealand and Indian Navies will conduct their first ever exercise at sea. TE MANA and INS BETWA will sail together from Mumbai and will operate together over a period of 12 hours. The exercise will involve the ships exchanging and sharing information as well as conducting a range of other activities.

The relationship between the two Navies stretches back over many years. HMNZS ACHILLES, which served in the New Zealand Navy during World War II, later joined the Indian Navy as INS DELHI.

Parts of the ship are located in the Naval Base in Auckland, New Zealand, and serve as a permanent reminder of a shared bond that goes back almost sixty years.

The Commanding Officer, Commander Wilson Trumper, and the 175 men and women onboard TE MANA are part way through a six month deployment to Asia. A key aspect of the ship's deployment is to demonstrate New Zealand's commitment to peace and security in the region - and to show the Navy's role in supporting this.

So far, TE MANA has visited Australia, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In each port visited by the ship a range of events have been organised to enable the Sailors to engage with local communities - and to show a bit of what it means to be a 'Kiwi'. These events range from cultural performances by TE MANA's Maori Cultural Group, to sporting activities with local teams through to social functions hosted onboard the frigate.

While TE MANA is in India, New Zealand's Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral David Ledson, will be visiting India's Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Arun Prakash, as well seeing a number of Indian Navy ships and facilities.

The Maritime Component Commander, Joint Forces New Zealand, Commodore David Anson, will also be in India, visiting TE MANA in Mumbai and sailing onboard the ship to observe the exercise between the Navies.

ENDS

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