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Pacific Partnership Joins Forces with Sail Banda

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100719-06
7/19/2010

By Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Bernardi, Pacific Partnership 2010 Public Affairs

AMBON, Indonesia (NNS) -- The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) continues its visit to Indonesia with its final stop in Ambon July 26 through Aug. 4 as part of Pacific Partnership 2010 and Sail Banda 2010.

Pacific Partnership 2010 is the fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet endeavors conducted in Indonesia as a disaster relief exercise aimed at strengthening regional partnerships and increasing interoperability with host nations, partner nations, and international humanitarian and relief organizations.

Pacific Partnership 2010 participants for Indonesia include medical and engineering professionals from Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. military. In addition, volunteers from the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) Hope worldwide; Latter-day Saint Charities; Project Hope; University of California, San Diego Pre-Dental Society; Vets Without Borders; and World Vets are aboard Mercy and have joined the team to help serve the medical needs of the people of Ambon and its surrounding islands.

Sail Banda 2010 is a series of events hosted by the Government of Indonesia to promote the future of small islands. Focusing on ecology, conservation and environmental awareness, Sail Banda 2010 hopes to duplicate the success of Bunaken Sail 2009 by bringing together numerous nations to strengthen relationships and build cooperation and mutual understanding. Events include seminars, cultural attractions, product expositions, and civic missions that will run from July 12 to Aug. 15. Mercy's participation features medical and dental care clinics and construction projects in and around Ambon, as well as on Seram Island.

This is Mercy's third visit to Indonesia. Following the December 2004 tsunami that struck Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean basin, Mercy was deployed to support international relief efforts. In 2006, Mercy once more deployed to Indonesia as part of a five-month deployment that included medical relief programs in Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines.

Mercy has completed the first two Pacific Partnership 2010 mission visits to Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as visits to the North Maluku province in Indonesia, where the ship's medical and engineering crew provided medical assistance and reconstruction projects to the region.

Mercy will also be joined in Ambon by two Australian Landing Craft, HMAS Labuan and HMAS Tarakan.

"Pacific Partnership 2010 continues to test new frontiers. For example, during our visit in Cambodia, we sent medical teams as far as 320 miles from Mercy to reach some of the most remote regions," said Commander, Pacific Partnership 2010, Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti. "While in Indonesia, Pacific Partnership is reaching new heights in terms of being able to combine efforts with another country's major event to share an opportunity for collaboration and partnership on a scale Pacific Partnership hasn't seen up until now."