Working with the Royal Navy of Oman

Lt(N) Travis Moore, HMCS Calgary

Canadian sailors are used to exercising with ships from other countries, but we don’t get much exposure to the navies of the Middle East. With that in mind, the crew of HMCS Calgary embraced an opportunity to train with the Royal Navy of Oman on June 22 after a port visit to Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman.

During the transit from Muscat to international waters, Calgary embarked four Omani sailors and sent eight of her own to the Omani missile patrol boat Dhofar. The two warships manoeuvred all day in an exercise that included sharing boarding party techniques and best practices. Although Dhofar is much smaller than Calgary, her presence in the transit was a valuable experience for both.

Lt(N) Patrick Larose, one of Calgary’s marine systems engineers, eagerly accepted the opportunity to spend the day aboard Dhofar and was surprised at what he saw. “Obviously, as a marine systems engineer, I was interested to see how the Omanis’ engines and propulsion system operated,” he said. “I was amazed at how similar their navy operated in comparison to our own. Their rank structure, conning orders and watch composition very much resembled ours.”

Lt(N) Blair Saltel, Calgary’s Combat Officer, also had the opportunity to tour Dhofar and help the Omani vessel’s command team integrate with the Canadian frigate. “Oman represents an excellent potential partner for operations in concert with achieving common goals in the region,” said Saltel. “Their high level of professionalism and British-based training provide many parallels that allow easy cooperation between our ships. Personally, it was a rewarding experience to meet with another nation’s navy and her members, to realize similarities and get positive exposure to differences.”

Though the exercise was short, it gave the ships plenty of interaction and helped foster relations between the Omani and Canadian navies. HMCS Calgary continues to patrol the Arabian Sea with Combined Task Force 150, the coalition fleet conducting the international campaign against terrorism in the Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf area.

Calgary is currently deployed on Operation ALTAIR with HMC Ships Iroquois and Protecteur. CTF 150 is currently under the command of Commodore Bob Davidson of Canada, who will hand over command of the fleet in September, when Denmark is scheduled to take over.