First littoral mission ship arrives at KK navy base
KOTA KINABALU: KD Keris, a littoral mission ship, is now based at the Royal Malaysia Navy east Armada base, making the total ships in operation at Sabah and Sarawak waters to 17 ships this year.
Navy Chief Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza Mohd Sany said that the presence of KD Keris in Sabah waters is capable of strengthening the defense control network to secure Malaysian waters particularly in East Malaysia.
He said that the additional asset will also raise the capacity to conduct patrols along the coastal areas particularly at the South China Sea and raise the security of the national maritime community.
Additionally, the presence of KD Keris is also able to reduce to cost of operation and burden of operation of other ships, such as KD Baung which has recorded 230 operation days without rest at sea prior to this, he said.
He said this to members of the media after a ceremony to welcome KD Keris which was officiated by Head of State, Tun Dr Juhar Mahiruddin at Tambatan PTKK yesterday.
KD Keris is 68 meters in length and 9.2 meters in width is capable of moving with a maximum speed of 22 knots.
The ship is manned by 45 crew members who are headed by Commanding Officer, Commander Mohd Zulkarnain Mohd Rawi. The ship can operate 15 days at sea.
KD Keris was built on July 31, 2018 at Wuchuan Shuangliu Manufacture Base, Wuhan and launched by the defence minister's wife, Normah Aiwi on April 15, 2019.
The physical handing over ceremony of KD Keris to the Malaysian government was conducted by the Final Acceptance Committee on December 31, last year.
LMS is one of the 15 classes of ships in the fifth Armada 15 Royal Malaysian Navy's transformation programme.
The contract to acquire four LMS was sealed between the Malaysia Defense Ministry with Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNSSB) on March 23, 2017 with the cooperation of the China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co Ltd (CSOC).
The project is the first capital defense acquisition project from China and the second ship called KD Sundang is scheduled to be handed over by April while the third and fourth ships will be delivered in May and August next year, respectively.
Meanwhile, PTKK will be receiving 12 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ScanEagle which is funded fully by the United States of America (US) through the Maritime Security initiative programme this year.
He said that the UAV will be operating at PTKK to secure Sabah's waters.