Navy Commander attends Cooperation at Sea symposium at US Naval War College
Commander in Chief of the navy, Rear Admiral Sinsy Nghipandua, accompanied by his wife, Sylvia, visited the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, in the last week of September to attend the 23rd International Seapower Symposium. The admiral and his wife were the guests of Lt Col John Lacy, a senior defence official and Defence Attaché at the US Embassy in Windhoek.
The was the admiral’s second appearance at the symposium, having attended for the first time in 2016.
The bi-annual Seapower Symposium is a forum where senior naval officers from around the world meet to discuss common maritime challenges and look at opportunities to improve international maritime security. The symposium runs over three days during which the officers discuss strategic issues as illuminated by expert speakers.
The US Embassy said the symposium is the only forum in the world where so many naval commanders have the opportunity to get acquainted and to discuss pertinent issues of security at sea. The meeting also serves as a naval network where officers can lay the groundwork for collaborative operations. The 23rd symposium was attended by 79 naval Commanders in Chief and 17 Heads of Coast Guards. Together with all the delegates, 102 countries were represented.
In the past, networking at the symposium has lead to many successful efforts to enhance cooperation to counter piracy, to provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, to coordinate search and rescue operations including submarine rescue, to plan and conduct coalition naval operations, and to synchronise law enforcement against arms, drugs and human trafficking. It also looks at protection of fisheries and combatting marine pollution.
Caption: Rear Admiral Sinsy Nghipandua and his wife, Sylvia, (centre and second from right) with Captain Davison Mwoombola (second from left), met with Admiral John Richardson (right), the US Chief of Naval Operations and his wife Dana (left), at the 23rd International Seapower Symposium held recently at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
