Maritime affairs
THE 11th Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Sea Power Conference was held in conjunction with the biennial International Maritime Exposition (Pacific 2019) this month.
Also part of the event was the Commander Fiji Navy, Captain Humphrey Tawake.
According to the Republic of Fiji Navy the three days conference included bilateral meetings, multilateral engagements and the Commander also participated in a panel with other fleet commanders from the region.
According to RAN, the Pacific 2019 involves seven interrelated events, the Sea Power Conference 2019, the KingHall History Conference 2019, the Inaugural Senior Enlisted Leadership Conference 2019, the Pacific Maritime Security Partnership Event, the Indian Ocean Forum, the International Maritime Conference 2019, and the Pacific 2019.
“Collectively the conferences and exposition offer an engaging and thought-provoking program for those with a personal and professional interest in naval and maritime affairs, RAN Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan said in his Pacific 2019 welcome address.
“In 2019, Sea Power Conference will explore the broad theme ‘The Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain in the 21st century — The Spectrum of Influence’.
“This theme explores the use of power versus procurement in the Indo-Pacific, Sea Power and the 4th Industrial Revolution including both people and technology, and the importance of cooperative and collaborative regional partnerships to ensure that all countries benefit from the 21st Century Indo-Pacific.
“Like many of our regional neighbours, Australia relies on its ocean for maritime trade and security, however, without the collective collaboration of all nations within the Indo-Pacific, this way of living is under threat.”
He said this year’s theme would also put a strong focus on the importance of people in the maritime domain, as without the workforces of the Royal Australian Navy, defence industry and other maritime agencies, Australia’s security was at risk.
“The Sea Power Conference 2019 will also look at lessons learnt from the past and how to both learn and use these lessons moving forward in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain,” he said.
“Sea Power Conference 2019 program is the biggest program to date, incorporating seven major interrelated events as well as many smaller events.”