Navy's Flotilla 83 and Indonesian Navy Organize Mutual Ship Visit Activity — "Bima Suci" Appears Again
"Bima Suci" Appears Again
■ PLA Daily Reporter Zhang Dan, People's Navy News Reporter Cui Xiaohan
The Indonesian Navy sail training ship "Bima Suci," moored at Surabaya Port. Photo by Li Kunpeng.
August. Surabaya Port, Indonesia. Friends have come from afar.
Navy Flotilla 83, currently conducting a friendly visit to Indonesia, organized a mutual ship visit activity with the Indonesian Navy. Chinese naval cadets and officers and soldiers boarded the Indonesian Navy sail training ship "Bima Suci" for yet another reunion with this "old friend."
"Bima Suci" is a genuine "old friend" of the Chinese Navy, having visited China three times — in 2019, in 2024, and again this past May — and having carried Chinese naval cadets on open-ocean navigation training, forging a deep friendship between the two sides.
Ascending the gangway of "Bima Suci," Indonesian Navy Lieutenant Husni stood on deck to welcome the visiting Chinese cadets and officers and soldiers. "Every time our ship visits China, we receive a warm welcome. This time, receiving Chinese friends who have come from afar at our home port, we must return the same heartfelt sentiment." Husni has participated in every visit "Bima Suci" has made to China, which has given him a special affection for China; he deeply admires the achievements of Chinese naval construction and the Chinese military's tireless pursuit of safeguarding peace.
In exchanges with the officers and soldiers of the Qi Jiguang, Husni learned that "Bima Suci" and Qi Jiguang were both commissioned in 2017 and are both training ships — a discovery that surprised and delighted him. "Long-term reliance on electronic equipment is not conducive to cultivating officers' and soldiers' traditional seamanship skills," Husni said. "On a sail training ship, cadets must master skills such as reading the sky and sea, climbing aloft, and setting and furling sails. This can complement motor training ships and form a complete talent-cultivation chain (人才培养链条). I hope there will be an opportunity in the future to train together with China's 'Polang' sail training ship."
Walking through the wooden decks and compartments, personnel from both sides conversed on topics ranging from ship structure and sail-rig maintenance to open-ocean training and meteorological support. Flotilla 83 staff officer Zhu Zhiwei, who came to visit, was particularly interested in "Bima Suci's" practice of carrying cadets for graduation internships. He told reporters that this was his second time boarding the ship. When "Bima Suci" made its first visit to China in 2019, he had just graduated from a military academy and had gone aboard to visit, encountering a foreign tall ship for the first time. He later also participated, as a Chinese Navy representative, in an open-ocean internship aboard the Chilean Navy sail training ship "Esmeralda." "The long ocean voyages, the ever-changing maritime environment, and the high-intensity deck work can effectively temper officers' and soldiers' qualities of resilience and their sense of cooperation," said Zhu Zhiwei.
For Zhang Yiteng, an intern cadet aboard Qi Jiguang, this was his first time boarding a sail training ship. The towering masts piercing the blue sky made him involuntarily imagine what it would look like when this ship raised its white sails and set out across the vast open ocean.
The "Bima Suci" sail training ship relies on sails for propulsion. The wind gives the ship the power to move forward, but also brings surging waves and violent rolling. What Zhang Yiteng was most curious about was how the crew copes with wind and waves during open-ocean voyages. An Indonesian Navy crew member who accompanied the tour explained: "We must possess the fighting spirit (拼搏精神) to battle wind and waves; the entire crew shares honor and disgrace, life and death. On a sail training ship, a great deal of sail-setting and mast-climbing work must be accomplished through crew coordination." Zhang Yiteng responded with delight: "This is entirely in keeping with the spirit of solidarity and cooperation (同舟共济、团结协作) that we uphold."
Slowly making his way through every part of the ship, Zhang Yiteng was still reluctant to leave even after stepping off the deck. He looks forward to one day having the opportunity to set sail on a sail training ship.
After the visit concluded, representatives of the Chinese and Indonesian militaries exchanged ship crests and ship caps. Kunlun Mountain cadet Yang Yiheng expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian Navy representatives: "We sincerely thank you for your warm hospitality and detailed explanations." Citing the lines of Tang dynasty poet Wang Changling, he said: "The same clouds and rain pass over the green mountains that connect us; the bright moon has never shone on two separate homelands. China and Indonesia are close neighbors separated only by a strip of water, and even more so friends bound by deep friendship. May the friendship between our two countries and two militaries endure forever."
A sea breeze gently blew. In the firm clasp of joined hands, the friendship between China and Indonesia stretching across the azure sea grew ever more enduring.
(PLA Daily dispatch from Surabaya, Indonesia, August 4)