Sittwe:  A Burmese naval exercise off the Arakan coast was halted after the engine of a navy ship stalled on the first day, said a fishing boat owner.

"The exercise started on August 18 and a navy ship, No. 911 had an engine failure. The naval officers requested us to pull the ship to the shallow part of the sea to anchor. We did so with other fishing boats," he said.

The Burmese Navy planned to carry out the exercise over five days under the leadership of navy commander Min Thein Aung, but the plan was cut short a day after the ship's engine suffered a mechanical problem.

Two navy ships - No. 911 and No. 913 - and over 100 soldiers and sailors were set to participate in the exercise. All the soldiers were sent back to Sittwe after the exercise was stopped.

The fishing boat owner said, "We saw the navy ship near the Mayu lighthouse, maybe 100 kilometers southwest of the lighthouse, and it was drifting at sea."

Some boats, into fishing nearby also helped transport some of the soldiers from the stranded ship to Sittwe.

According to local sources, the Burmese Navy has some ships patrolling the Arakan Sea but most are old model ships that have been bought from China. Such an incident is not uncommon with the Burmese Navy, and some navy coast guard ships have also suffered engine failures in the area.