It was a baptism of fire for newly minted maritime warfare officer trainee Midshipman Danielle, pulling watch on the bridge during the largest maritime cooperative activity (MCA) the Philippines has attempted.

The submariner change-over is embarked in HMAS Toowoomba during her regional presence deployment, standing duty during Exercise Balikatan while 10 warships from five partner nations sailed as one fleet.

“It was cool to see, because everyone had to put in a lot individually to make it happen collectively, at the exact same time, so it was impressive,” Midshipman Danielle said.

For the maritime component of Balikatan, the Philippine and United States Navy-led exercise also included participants from the Royal Australian and Canadian navies, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and United States and Philippine Coast Guards.

Only recently leaving the classroom, Midshipman Danielle said she was awestruck to see the theory put into practice, and so many different nations operating seamlessly as one. 

“It definitely takes a high level of skill to be able to conduct officer-of-the-watch manoeuvrers to this level with this many units. Today was an excellent demonstration of how all of our different resources come together to achieve one unified outcome,” Midshipman Danielle said.

The Australian Defence Force has been participating in Exercise Balikatan since 2014. 

This year marked the first time a major fleet unit from the Royal Australian Navy has participated.

'It definitely takes a high level of skill to be able to conduct officer-of-the-watch manoeuvrers to this level with this many units.'

Commanding Officer Toowoomba Commander Alicia Harrison said it was the third MCA her ship has participated in since departing Australia in January this year. 

“Having 10 vessels from five nations operating in unison is no small feat, and to complete this so effortlessly demonstrates the high standard of interoperability, cooperation and readiness we collectively share to respond to shared security challenges,” Commander Harrison said.

Commander Harrison added there was no greater proof of this than having Philippine and United States Navy officers ‘take the con’ on board Toowoomba during the activity.

“Having officers from our partner nations ‘at the con’ during an extremely complicated exercise is a testament not only to the trust we share among our regional partners, but the faith all participating nations have in each other’s maritime skills and knowledge while working as one fleet,” Commander Harrison said. 

MCAs demonstrate Australia’s commitment to upholding international law, including freedom of navigation and overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

Australia reaffirms the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award is final and legally binding on the parties.