Alex Candlin
HMS Tamar's five-year patrol has shifted to the Indian Ocean for the first time, making her only the second Royal Navy warship to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in three decades.
The patrol ship, plus her sister ship HMS Spey, have concentrated their efforts in Asia, the western Pacific Rim and Oceania – but Tamar now switches focus to the Indian Ocean and the 'Indo' element of her Indo-Asia-Pacific mission.
Tamar spent five days in Port Blair, capital of the islands – roughly 600 miles east of the Indian mainland – where her command team met the Indian regional and navy commanders and the UK's defence and naval attachés to discuss joint patrols, exercises and future opportunities to work together.
Tamar was hosted by the Indian corvette INS Karmuk and, after sailing from Port Blair, the two warships conducted various combined training in company with a Dornier maritime patrol aircraft.
The ship's visit to Port Blair and patrol of the Indian Ocean builds on the visit of the UK's Carrier Strike Group to the country in 2021 and raises the curtain on further engagement later this year with frigate HMS Lancaster, based in Bahrain, and a Royal Marines amphibious task group.
Commander Teilo Elliot-Smith, Tamar's Commanding Officer, praised the country's kind treatment toward the crew and the strengthening of the relationship with the Indian armed forces.
"Tamar was the first Royal Navy warship to visit the islands since HMS Montrose – 16 years ago," he said.
"Through coming here, we have garnered a much better sense of the regional security challenges and how the UK can complement regional strategy in delivering security in the maritime domain."
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