His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office visited the Changi Naval Base, Singapore Navy on Friday.

His Royal Highness on arrival at the Singapore Maritime Crisis Centre (SMCC) was greeted by Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad; Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Aaron Beng; and Commander Maritime Security Taskforce Rear Admiral Yong Wei Hsiung.

His Royal Highness was briefed on the ‘Whole of Government Maritime Security Concept’ and ‘Singapore’s Strategy for Safeguarding Maritime Security’, highlighting the importance of identifying early threats by emphasising information sharing and closer inter-agency coordination.

His Royal Highness then boarded the RSS Sovereignty Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV), where His Royal Highness was greeted by Commander of the Second Flotilla Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ricky Low.

The vessel is an asset of the Singapore Navy, specially designed to meet operational requirements, and uses the latest technology to enable the overall operational system to run more efficiently.

On the RSS Sovereignty LMV, His Royal Highness was briefed on the vessel’s background and Singapore’s Maritime Security (MARSEC) area of operations.

This was followed with a visit to several parts on the vessel such as the Integrated Command Centre as well as witnessing deterrence operation demonstrations of the Whole of Government Approach involving the Police Coast Guard (PCG); the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF); the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

Before concluding the visit, His Royal Highness was introduced to three officers from security agencies of the Government of Brunei Darussalam who are part of 201 International Liaison Officers from 26 countries undergoing their work placement at the Information Fusion Centre.

The officers at the centre have the opportunity to learn best practices from security agencies of Singapore which can be implemented in their countries.

The visit also aimed to further enhance defence cooperation as well as sharing of knowledge in the fields of maritime and regional security.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin