HMS Spey and Tamar of the Royal Navy (RN) will continue to deepen the United Kingdom’s defence cooperation across the Indo-Pacific, with both Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessels (OPV) set to join the upcoming Five Powers Defence Arrangements (FPDA) Exercise Bersama Lima while the Arrangement marks its 55th anniversary since its inception.
Both ships will represent the Royal Navy in this iteration of the multi-domain exercise which involves both joint and combined operations, practicing strategic coordination, and real-time communication across air, sea, and land forces of Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Stopping in Malaysia’s Port Klang, the vessel’s enduring deployment to the region reflected the UK’s commitment to building long-term relationships with regional partners, particularly Malaysia, while strengthening maritime cooperation and contributing to regional stability while underscoring the FPDA’s centrality to wider UK-Malaysia defence cooperation. The two vessels recently passed the five-year milestone in their landmark mission being forward-deployed to the Indo-Pacific region, recording almost 2,000 days since the pair left their homeport of Portsmouth in September 2021.
Crewed by around 40 personnel each, the Spey and Tamar have renewed the RN’s and United Kingdom’s presence in the Indo-Pacific as the first British warships operating around-the-clock in this key part of the world since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. The Spey has been operating across the South China Sea conducting freedom of navigation operations (FONOP) in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as assisting in enforcing United Nations (UN) sanctions imposed on North Korea. Additionally, the Tamar also carried out fisheries enforcement missions in the region before taking part in the US Pacific Command-led (PACOM) Pacific Partnership in Sabah, Malaysia. Before sailing to its next destination, the Spey will conduct a short bilateral passing exercise (PASSEX) with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
Deployment of the Spey and Tamar also emphasised the significance of the UK’s continued presence in Southeast Asia amidst evolving regional and global security, reflecting the importance Britain places on Malaysia, Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific, while highlighting efforts to modernise longstanding partnerships with countries in the region. The UK’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review described the deployment of both ships as a “permanent UK presence in the Indo-Pacific” as there are currently no dates for either ship to sail home. –-shp/adj/dl (Pix:ADJ)
