INS Sunayna in Seychelles for naval exercise

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New Delhi, September 26

INS Sunayna has reached Seychelles, an island off the coast of East Africa, to participate in the annual training exercise “Operation Southern Readiness” of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).

“This not only reinforces Indian Navy’s commitment to maritime security in the Indian Ocean region, but also marks the maiden participation of an Indian Navy ship in the CMF exercise,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The US, Italy, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Spain and India are among the participants.

The Seychelles People’s Defence Force, European Union Naval Force and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime are part of the exercise. Forces of multiple nations will conduct training on boarding a ship, search and seizure techniques, search and rescue operations, maritime law and information-sharing.

In a separate development, Indian Navy’s surveillance plane, P8-I, landed at Seychelles yesterday morning for undertaking a joint surveillance on the request of the Government of Seychelles.

Commissioned in 2013

INS Sunayna, the second of the NOPV (Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel) class of ship was commissioned at Kochi on October 15 in 2013 by Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command