Warships from Canada,
other countries, join
U.S. navy in manoeuvres
off Panama
Warships from Canada and
more than a dozen other
countries joined the
U.S. navy for ongoing
manoeuvres Sunday near
the Panama Canal in an
exercise being billed as
one of the largest
multinational military
training events of the
year.
More than 30 ships began
the exercises Wednesday
in the waters near the
canal, to practise
defending the
economically and
strategically crucial
waterway.
The exercise is
scheduled to continue
through Friday in the
Caribbean and Pacific
approaches to the canal.
Thousands of ships pass
through the Panama Canal
every year, shuttling
more than 200 million
tons of exports and
imports that are vital
to the region's
economies, according to
the Miami-based U.S.
Southern Command, which
is sponsoring the
exercise.
A dozen Latin American
and Caribbean countries
were participating, as
were Canada, France, the
Netherlands and the
United States.
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