HMS Tamar puts New Zealand boarding team through its paces in Indo-Pacific exercise

Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Tamar has put an embarked Royal New Zealand Navy boarding team through its paces during Exercise Bersama Lima 2026, as the UK joined Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore for multinational military training in the Indo-Pacific.

"Hands to boarding stations!" HMS Tamar posted on X, describing the integration between the Royal Navy and New Zealand Defence Force as "integration at its finest" during the Five Power Defence Arrangements exercise.

The 10-day exercise brought together ships, troops and aircraft from the five nations to practise combined operations across maritime, land and air environments, with scenarios including boarding and searching vessels, submarine hunting and naval air defence.

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A Royal New Zealand Navy officer and a Kiwi boarding team embarked on HMS Tamar for the exercise, with the officer describing the deployment as a first for his team and an opportunity to share experience and strengthen cooperation between the two navies.

HMS Tamar's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Cheryl Goodwin, said Bersama Lima tested the crew in traditional warfighting roles and demonstrated the UK's commitment to maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific

Tamar's sister ship HMS Spey also represented the Royal Navy during the exercise.