U.S., Japan Hospital Ships Arrive In Cambodia For Pacific Partnership 2010

via Khmer NZ News Media

PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Bernama) -- The hospital ship USNS Mercy and Japanese destroyer Kunisaki arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to cooperate with the Royal Government on medical construction and engineering projects as a part of Pacific Partnership 2010, according to U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

The two hospital ships paid the courtesy visit at the invitition of the Cambodian government, reported China's Xinhua news agency.

In a statement released by the Embassy, it said that the Pacific Partnership 2010 is the fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors aimed at strengthening regional partnerships and increasing interoperability with host nations, partner nations, U.S. interagency groups, and international humanitarian and relief organisations.

Pacific Partnership 2010 (PP10) brings together military medical and engineering professionals from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Medical personnel from Cambodia will work with the PP10 team to provide medical care in partnership with their American and international counterparts.

The two ships are docking in Sihanoukville Province, 230 km southwest of Phnom Penh and will be here on June 28.

According to the Embassy's statement, the Pacific Partnership team will conduct surgery aboard Mercy, as well as numerous medical, dental, engineering, and veterinary civic action programs ashore.

In addition to Sihanoukville, PP10 teams will be providing assistance in other provinces including Ratanakiri, Kampong Cham, Kampong Spue, and Kampot. Military engineers will also be drilling three wells which will provide fresh water for remote communities in Kandal Province and two in Takeo Province.

The Pacific Fleet Band will give public musical performances in Sihanoukville.

Pacific Partnership 2010 participants also include volunteers from the non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The statement also said that one of Mercy's primary missions is to provide mobile surgical hospital services for use in disaster or humanitarian relief missions and other peacetime operations.