Australian Navy on Goodwill Visit Donates Gifts to Needy Children

The children were also given a tour of the HMAS Darwin, a naval vessel on a five-day goodwill trip to HCM City. Lieutenant Apron Convery handed over the gifts, including pens, toothpastes, notebooks and textbooks. On Wednesday, the ship’s women’s football team played a friendly match with the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Culture at Thong Nhat Stadium in District 10. One day earlier, the ship’s sailors played volleyball with students of the VPN Technical College in District 4. The ship, commanded by Commander Christopher Smith, arrived in the city Monday, with 205 officers and crew on board. Since the establishment of defense relations between the two countries in 1999, 15 Royal Australian Navy ships have paid goodwill visits to Vietnam, said Colonel Stuart Dodds, Australian Defense Attaché in Vietnam. HCMC is the final stop on the HMAS Darwin’s tour of six Southeast Asian countries which started early last month. The ship will sail to Singapore again before heading home, Smith said.