ESSZone residents urged to download K3M application for emergency
LAHAD DATU: The maritime community in Sabah, especially residents of the Eastern Sabah Security Zone ( ESSZone) is urged to download the Maritime Community Safety Awareness Application ( K3M) for free from Google Play Store into their smartphones for effective assistance during an emergency situation at the sea.
Royal Malaysian Navy ( RMN) Naval Region 2 commander Rear Admiral Datuk Ganesh Navaratnam said by simply pressing the SOS button on the K3M application will help to shorten the response time of security personnel arriving at an emergency site.
“This is among the safety improvement aspects of the ESSZone but we also need the maritime community here to download this application and check-in before using it,” he said.
He told the press this during the Aidilfitri celebration on Tun Azizan Auxiliary Vessel in conjunction with the Trilateral Maritime Patrol meeting between RMN’s KD Todak and the Philippine Navy vessel, BRP Miguel Malvar at the border waters near here on Tuesday.
Ganesh said the SOS from K3M would immediately be sent to the TLDM operation centre where the officer on duty would receive a trigger indicating an incident occurred.
“Then, we will know the exact location and the estimated time of arrival at the scene, if necessary we will send a helicopter and if it’s near we will send a combat ship,” he said.
Ganesh said the application, which was jointly developed by RNM and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency ( MMEA), and expected to be downloaded 70,000 times this year, is available in Malay, Chinese and English languages, and also provides the latest maritime news.
“If there is a need to add another language, it will be added.
“So far about 50 per cent of the maritime community in Malaysia has accessed to K3M since it was launched last year,” he said, adding that the apps would also be extended to tourists.
Ganesh said besides the K3M application, RMN had also introduced Sea Alert system to the Malaysian Shipowners’ Association.
“The system will be installed on the ship’s desktop, we already run the simulation and thus, any real occurrence can be handled immediately,” he said.
He also said that MMEA would go on the ground to meet the people to explain about K3M apps and Sea Alert system to the maritime community.
“Our patrolling vessels will meet fishermen as well as islanders and tourists to explain how the application works,” he added. — Bernama