KOTA KINABALU, March 5 — Two more Royal Malaysian Navy’s Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) will be stationed at the Eastern Fleet Command Headquarters, Kota Kinabalu Naval Base to further tighten the security in the country’s waters, especially in Sabah.
Chief of Navy Tan Sri Mohd Reza Mohd Sany said two ships had been stationed in Sabah, so far, namely KD Keris and KD Sundang.
“The other two LMS ships are expected to arrive in Malaysia in October and December. We also have plans to acquire several more LMS ships but we have not yet determined the type and the manufacturer,” he told reporters after the commissioning ceremony of the second LMS, KD Sundang here today.
The historic ceremony was also witnessed by Boustead Heavy Industry Corporation (BHIC) chairman Tan Sri Ramlan Mohamed Ali and China’s Consul-General in Kota Kinabalu Liang Caide.
Commenting further, Mohd Reza said KD Sundang arrived at the naval base on January 24 after sailing 1,862 nautical miles.
The construction of KD Sundang began on October 23, 2018 at Wuchuan Shuangliu Manufacture Base, Wuhan, China and it is one of five ships in the 15 to 5 Armada Transformation programme.
The procurement of the four LMS ships was implemented under the Defence Ministry’s contract with Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd that was signed on March 23, 2017 with the cooperation of China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co Ltd. — Bernama
