The Philippine Navy (PN) held a send-off ceremony Wednesday at Captain Salvo Pier, Naval Base Cavite, Sangley Point for BRP Dagupan City which will join the ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise (ACMEX) 2018 from October 21 to 28 at Zhanjiang, China.

Philippine Fleet Commander, Rear Admiral Danilo Rodelas oversaw the send- off ceremony for the 200-man PN contingent led by Commander Sherwin Respeto. It is expected that the PN contingent will arrive in China on October 20.

This will be latest contingent sent by the Navy following its participation in different multilateral naval exercises such as Komodo Exercise in Mataram, Indonesia, Rimpac Exercise in Hawaii, USA and Kakadu in Darwin, Australia to include the recent goodwill visits in Vladivostok, Russia and Jeju Island, South Korea.

ACMEX 2018 aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between ASEAN member states navies and China focusing on maritime safety and search and rescue at sea with emphasis on the use of Code of Unplanned Encounter at Sea (CUES). DMS