Fourth Littoral Mission Ship commissioned into service
KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) commissioned its fourth Li oral Mission Ship (LMS), KD Rencong, into service at its base in Sepanggar yesterday.
The commissioning ceremony was officiated by Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza Mohd Sany who also presented the Command Insignia to the Commanding Officer, Commander Khairuddin Ahmad@Hassan.
Mohd Reza said the KD Rencong is one of four LMSs acquired as part of RMN’s 15-to-5 Transformation Plan to upgrade its fleet and create an efficient armada.
“With the presence of the LMS KD Rencong based in Kota Kinabalu, I hope it will further enhance the capabilities of the
Eastern Fleet together with the three other LMSs namely KD Keris, KD Sundang and KD Badik,” he told reporters a er the commissioning ceremony here yesterday.
The KD Rencong was built on Sept 19 in Wuhan, China before se ing sail on Dec 21 last year to Malaysia, some 1,811 nautical miles away, and arriving at the Kota Kinabalu RMN base on Dec 28.
The KD Rencong has a speed of up to 22 knots, measuring a length of 68 metres (m) and a width of 9.20 m, and is also capable of performing operations for a period of 15 days without the need to resupply.
Mohd Reza said the RMN is planning to acquire a second batch of LMSs to further increase the Navy’s assets.
“We expect the second batch of LMSs to be realised this year or next year. We are working in this direction...we have not decided on where to order them yet, but this (second batch) is the plan,” he added.
Mohd Reza said the procurement of four Li oral Mission Ships was only the first step and hoped the second phase would be realised either this year or next year depending on the government’s budget.
Rencong is named a er a traditional Malay weapon which symbolizes the spirit of heroism, struggle, courage and strength in resisting and fend off enemy a acks.
All Keris-class LMS are named a er traditional Malay weapons.
The fourth and final ship-inclass KD Rencong will join the 11th LMS Squadron with KD Keris (first LMS), KD Sundang (second LMS) and KD Badik (third LMS).
KD Keris was commissioned on Jan 6, 2020, KD Sundang (March 5, 2021), KD Badik (Oct 22, 2021) and KD Rencong (Jan 28, 2022).
All four vessels are under the command of the 11th LMS Squadron at the Eastern Fleet Command Headquarters in Kota Kinabalu.
Procurement of all four LMS vessels is implemented under the contract of the Malaysia Ministry of Defense with Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd which was signed on March 23, 2017 in collaboration with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. Ltd.