US, UK navies organise annual exercise Lucky Mariner

The US and UK navies and the commercial shipping industry have jointly conducted exercise Lucky Mariner 13, aimed to boost their response capability.

Led by Naval Coordination and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS), the annual exercise involved Violent Extremist Organization (VEO) scenario to prepare personnel on civilian-military responses to violent extremist threats to theatre shipping.

VEOs usually use asymmetric means such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to attack vessels and affect regional economic stability.

Task Force 53 force protection officer lieutenant commander Michael Piano said: "The Lucky Mariner exercise is meant to identify threats, practice defense techniques, validate procedures and apply them if and when we would ever need them."

An exercise crisis response centre at Naval Support Activity, Bahrain, has been set up during the exercise by the UK Maritime Trade Office, Maritime Administration, US Maritime Liaison Office, Naval Coordination and Guidance for Shipping office and industry representatives.

Destoryer Squadron 50 commodore captain Stephen Evans said: "Thanks to the teamwork and integration of the military and industry players involved, we were able to meet all objectives and successfully conduct an operation that hasn’t been done since Operation Earnest Will in the 1980s."

Equipped with wifi and computers and charts, the centre served as a communications terminal for aircraft, ships, and civilian companies to share information so as to react to situations accordingly.

The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, witnesses traffic of over 500 ships every week, 300 of them are energy carriers.