The Chinese maritime and other concerned agencies and the Philippine Coast Guard held in Manila the first-ever joint table search and rescue (SAR) exercise on Thursday.

The bilateral meet dubbed "China - Philippines Cooperation 2004" table top exercises is aimed to further strengthen cooperation between the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of the People's Republic of China and the Philippine Coast Guard and seeks to foster harmonious relationship between the personnel of the two countries.

The exercise, conducted in a war room in the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters, simulated an oil tanker vessel with 28 crew members on board, developing a fire somewhere in the middle of South China Sea.

As distress signal is sent and received, Chinese agencies and the Philippine side conducted joint SAR operations, utilizing their respective resources in order to save the lives of the crew members as well as the ill-fated tanker.

"Indeed the time has come for these two neighboring nations to show close cooperation in performing search and rescue exercise. This table exercise is the first big step, in preparation for a long journey, where both countries will cooperate in the preservation of life through actual search and rescue operation," said Philippine Coast Guard deputy commandant Rear Admiral Danilo Abinoja at the opening ceremony also attended by Commandant Vice Admiral Arthur Gosingan.

Abinoja said the table top exercise will be significant, in understanding each others and expected that the two countries will find creative ways to strengthen the SAR capabilities in the region and make the maritime environment safer for the public and ships at sea.

After many months planning and preparations, the table top exercise will test the readiness of each country in the event a maritime disaster occurs in the South China Sea and a contingency plan will be drawn up to serve as guide for SAR cooperation in case of need.

"Through this first-ever table top exercise, we hope the maritime and concerned agencies of the two countries can further coordinate with each other and promote mutual understanding to pursue safer shipping and cleaner oceans," Chinese delegates leader and MSA deputy director General Zheng Heping told Xinhua.

Zheng said this event, in a way, will boost the cooperation in more sectors between China and the Philippines as good neighbors with confidence-building measures through a maritime professional skill exchange and hoped that an actual maritime exercise will be held in a proper time.

Nine delegates from Chinese MSA, ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Communications and 30 personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Foreign Affairs, among others, joined the event.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2004)