Media Room: Defence Alert

What: Royal Australian Navy’s amphibious landing ship, HMAS Kanimbla, returns to her homeport Sydney at Fleet Base East, after a four-month deployment to Operation Sumatra Assist. HMAS Kanimbla was part of the Australian Defence Force’s assistance to the Banda Aceh and Nias communities of Indonesia that were devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and later earthquake on 28 March 2005.

Who: HMAS Kanimbla will be welcomed by The Prime Minister, The Honourable John Howard MP, Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie, AO, RAN, Maritime Commander Australia, Rear Admiral Rowan Moffitt, AM, RAN, along with hundreds of families and friends.

Where: Fleet Base East, Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, Sydney.

When: 10:00 am Saturday, 30 April 2005.

Time: 9:15 am. Media to assemble at the ADI Gate (main gate) of Fleet Base East at the intersection of Wylde Street and Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo. Photographic identification will be required.