HMS Tamar forges ties with Cambodia during her first visit to the Asian nation

HMS Tamar has paid her first visit to Cambodia, continuing a renewed Royal Navy presence in the country after an absence of more than six decades.

The offshore patrol vessel spent eight days in Cambodia, including training with the Royal Cambodian Navy at Ream Naval Base, which has undergone a major redevelopment with Chinese assistance.

Cambodian sailors joined HMS Tamar's crew for medical and damage-control exercises, including trauma care at sea and training to deal with flooding aboard ship.

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The visit is the third by a Royal Navy warship to Cambodia since HMS Spey arrived in 2023, ending a gap of almost 65 years.

Spey returned the following year, when 30 members of the Royal Cambodian Navy joined its crew for two days of training covering navigation, man-overboard procedures and firefighting.

HMS Tamar's deployment marks the third Royal Navy visit to Cambodia since 2023.

During Tamar’s visit, Commanding Officer Commander Tom Lindsey also met Cambodian naval officers to discuss future cooperation between the two navies.

"It has been a privilege to bring Tamar to Cambodia for the first time," he said.

The visit also included football and volleyball matches with the Royal Cambodian Navy, followed by a joint barbecue.

HMS Tamar hosted Cambodian government and military representatives aboard, as well as local schoolchildren, while members of the ship's company volunteered at the M'lop Tapang organisation, which supports children and young people in Sihanoukville.

HMS Tamar is deployed to the Indo-Pacific alongside sister ship HMS Spey, with the two River-class patrol vessels used for maritime security operations such as intercepting drug smugglers and disaster relief. 

Ream Naval Base

Ream Naval Base has attracted international scrutiny because of China's role in its redevelopment and the presence of Chinese naval vessels there during construction.

The redevelopment included a new pier capable of accommodating larger ships, a dry dock and a joint Cambodian-Chinese support and training centre.

The expanded base reopened in April 2025.

At the inauguration, Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet rejected claims that any foreign country had been granted an exclusive military base in Cambodia and said warships from friendly nations would be able to visit Ream.

Japanese and Vietnamese naval vessels called at the base, while USS Cincinnati made a port visit in January this year.