Navy to strengthen assets in Sabah, Sarawak
SANDAKAN: Commander of Naval Area 2 (PANGWILLA 2), Rear Admiral Dato’ Ganesh Navaratnam handed over his position as Commander of Royal Malaysian Navy’s Naval Area 2 (MAWILLA 2) to Deputy Commander, Captain Azeman Yusoff at Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Sandakan base here, yesterday.
The historic moment was witnessed and graced by Commander of Eastern Fleet, Admiral Abdul Rahman Ayob. His arrival was accorded a salute by Kumpulan Kawalan Kehormatan MAWILLA 2.
The ceremony was also attended by all RMN Sandakan base personnel, Commanding Officers under MAWILLA 2 from KD SRI SEMPORNA and KD SRI TAWAU, as well as the Armed Force Charity Body of MAWILLA 2.
Speaking at the ceremony, Abdul Rahman thanked Ganesh for his contribution and service throughout his six months as PANGWILLA 2.
He said although the time was brief, Ganesh had made several changes and improvement particularly in increasing effectiveness of operations in MAWILLA 2.
He said that the initiative to increase RMN assets, especially ships that were added to MAWILLA 2 from the Eastern Fleet, had managed to increase the readiness of MAWILLA 2 in keeping the East Coast of Sabah safe.
Abdul Rahman then said that there was a plan to move two ships from New Generation Patrol Vessel (NGPV) to the Eastern Fleet - KD PERAK and KD TERENGGANU - currently in RMN Tanjung Gelang, Kuantan.
He said that the addition of the ships was to strengthen RMN’s assets in Sabah and Sarawak, and it was expected to be done end of this year or early next year.
He added that RMN was also expecting to receive four ships from Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) which were now still in the process of being completed.
Meanwhile, Ganesh, who has held position as PANGWILLA 2 since June 22, last year thanked the Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC), as well as other government departments and agencies, private sector, associations and the people of Sandakan for providing their cooperation to MAWILLA 2 during his time as PANGWILLA 2.
During his six months as PANGWILLA 2, Ganesh has successfully held two series of training at sea that involved assets in MAWILLA 2 including Borneo War 4/18 and Operational Sea Training Exercise (OSTEX) East 2/18.
All training that was conducted not only aimed to train skills of RMN personnel, but also to showcase RMN’s assets at sea and at the same time boost the confidence of the local community in RMN’s ability in keeping the country’s waters safe from intruders.
In the aspects of charity and welfare of MAWILLA 2 personnel, Ganesh has acquired allocation to repair and upgrade homes, sports, and recreational facilities as well as basic facilities at RMN Family House in Taman Samudera, here.
Ganesh is the 27th PANGWILLA 2 and yesterday officially ended his time as PANGWILLA 2 to be transferred to Institute of Defence and Security (MIDAS), Kuala Lumpur beginning January 9, this year.