INTEGRATED SEA-LAND EXERCISE BEGINS

Over the next two weeks, don't be alarmed if you hear gunshots and see flares fired from security boats at a ferry terminal.

All this high-intensity action is part of a sea and land deployment exercise jointly conducted by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), codenamed Exercise Highcrest 2013, from 29 Oct to 7 Nov.

The integrated exercise will involve the National Maritime Security System (NMSS), which consists of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), Singapore Customs and Singapore Police Force.

Exercise Highcrest will bring together all these agencies in a series of maritime and land operations to counter terrorism threats in a simultaneous, multi-pronged terrorist attack scenario. It will test and validate the full operational capability of the NMSS in information sharing, decision making and coordination of operations to deal with terrorism that straddles both maritime and land domains.

Speaking to the media at a joint press conference, Exercise Director Rear-Admiral (RADM) Jackson Chia, Head Naval Operations in the RSN, noted that the exercise serves as a good platform for the numerous maritime agencies to enhance interoperability in identifying and handling maritime security threats.

Terrorist infiltration into Singapore via sea, attacks on coastal installations and discovery of Improvised Explosive Devices are some of the "threats" that the NMSS will have to detect and intercept during the exercise, amidst the many different scenarios played out to them, said RADM Chia.

Fellow Exercise Director, Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Ng Yeow Boon, Senior Director Joint Operations Division in MHA, said: "The sea space is the most vulnerable (to security threats), so sense-making in the maritime domain is very critical in dealing with them."

He highlighted the exercise as a platform to raise the awareness and resilience of the public: "All this while, we are trying to remind Singaporeans that terrorist threats lurk around us. But it's difficult because the more successful we are in protecting our borders, the less likely Singaporeans will stay vigilant."

Located at the Changi Command and Control Centre, the NMSS is made up of the National Maritime Sense-making Centre (NMSC), which is headed by Colonel (COL) Lee Weng Foo, and the National Maritime Operations Group (NMOG), led by Mr Bernard Miranda.

Chief of Navy RADM Ng Chee Peng oversees the NMSS as Crisis Manager of Crisis Management Group (Maritime Security), to ensure an effective and coherent national response across all maritime security agencies when threats arise.

Exercise Highcrest will be conducted in two phases: the first of which is a Table-Top Exercise where the NMSC will assess threats based on analysis of data collected from maritime and land-based agencies, and the NMOG will develop a coordinated maritime and land response plan to counter the threats.

The second phase will be a Ground Deployment Exercise where the joint operational plans developed in the initial phase will be executed and ground assets, deployed to defend against the threats.

Besides the five security agencies from the NMSS, 15 other national agencies, including those from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Singapore Civil Defence Force will also take part in the two-week exercise, which will involve over 1,600 personnel.

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