SHAH ALAM: MMEA is scheduled to receive OPV1 on November 27, its deputy director-general (Operations) Vice Admiral (Maritime) Hamid Mohd Amin said on November 4 in Kuching. Once delivered – OPV1 – built by THHE Sdn Bhd at Pulau Indah – will be based in Kuching to boost the surveillance of the state’s waters.
MMEA will also base two 32- metre patrol boats – KM Marudu and KM Kimanis – to Sarawak by year-end, he added. MMEA has also moved two other boats to Sarawak earlier this year. The two ships are the 40-metre KM Marlin and KM Tegas.
Hamid also said one of two ships to be donated by “a friendly nation” next year will also be based in Sarawak.
Story from The Borneo Post:
“This is to achieve our objective in determining our safety and preparedness, especially in the waters of Sarawak, because the waters of the state are rich in petroleum and marine resources,” he said in a press conference of the Perkasa Timur Maritime Exercise 2/2023 closing ceremony, at the Sarawak MMEA headquarters (Komtas), today.
According to him, currently, MMEA has moved two ships, KM Marlin and KM Tegas, to Sarawak for the same purpose, as well as part of the agency’s asset preparedness ahead of the Northeast Monsoon (MTL).
“We will receive two more patrol vessels from the friendly team, meaning from abroad, at the beginning of next year, and we plan to move one of them to Sarawak,” he said.
Commenting on the exercise conducted, Hamid said that it was carried out to prepare MMEA officers and members to face any maritime threat situation, focusing on the South China Sea on the west coast of Sabah and Sarawak.
A total of 652 officers and members of the MMEA, with the strength of 14 vessels, were involved in the exercise for a week, from Oct 28 until today, with locations ranging from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching.
As for OPV1, Malaysian Defence has posted that the ship is expected to be delivered by year end. She was out at sea, a month back for sea trials, which according to industry sources had gone well.
— Malaysian Defence
View Comments (29)
With the chinese coast guard ships measuring 130 meters or more, MMEA should be sending their biggest ship over there i.e. KM Pekan or Arau
Only KM Arau was available for duties in SCS, KM Pekan is based in Peninsula
Seeing the NGPC reminds me, anyone know what happen to the Fulmar UAVs that were supposedly to go onto these boats but was reverted after that accident? Is the system being in use somewhere else now or just chuck into a warehouse to be forgotten?
I think its stored in a warehouse.
I hope the friendly nation that want to donates ships to us is Japan. Just like KM Pekan, KM Arau and KM Marlin.
I am hoping the same and it will be announced during the Japan PM visit to MY this weekend. But nothing so far.
Hasnan - “With the chinese coast guard ships measuring 130 meters or more”
Unless we’re going to ram them; size isn’t an issue.
The OSV, from AIS tracking, is probably SK Marco Polo, owned by SK Offshore & Marine. It is a 78m long OSV with a gross tonnage (GT) of about 4900 tonnes. A good size of ship for TLDM as a multi-purpose mothership actually, for APMM it would be better to get AHTS-type of OSVs that can tow ships in distress.
Additional OPV donations? Hopefully a few more of KM Pekan sisterships from Japan.
Lets hear if defence experts here have any suggestions on how to quickly increase the APMM OPV fleet with the small development budget that APMM is given.
"I think its stored in a warehouse."
Such a waste! We paid so much money for them, why not MMEA use them for some other land based function or else give it to other service branches, after all the spook division had to buy Chinese drones when they could have used these.
@Azlan
You have to be prepared for the inevitable. One day for sure the Chinese will implement area denial to all our ships in all the disputed zones.
Hasnan – “You have to be prepared for the inevitable”
Not all things are inevitable and we don’t need ships of a large size unless we intend on raming anything. Also, even if they did implement area denial it wouldn’t make a different even if we had a 8,000 tonne ship in the area.
… – “Lets hear if defence experts here have any suggestions on how to quickly increase the APMM OPV fleet”
Didn’t know there were any “experts here” but to me the pertinent question is if the MMEA were to “quickly” increase the APMM OPV fleet” does it have the manpower on hand or the funds to “quickly” sustain the assets? Another issue is that the “quickly” and the operational need aside; what the MMEA is also trying to do is decrease or lower its logistical/support footprint. Would be a major strain if it were to “quickly” be provided say 3 OPVs which have no commonality with what is already operated.
“Chinese drones when they could have used these”
The Fulmars are smaller, shorter range and endurance ones compared to what the Royal Intelligence Corps recently received. Would be nice to know however that some use for the Fulmars have been found by the MMEA.
@hulubalang
"Hopefully a few more of KM Pekan sisterships from Japan."
If you'd followed these boats histories, they are actually one off designs. Those that came after Pekan & Arau have multiple sisterships. We will need to see what we get.
@ joe
"If you’d followed these boats histories"
Yes, i do follow their histories.
KM Arau, formerly PL-01 Nojima, was a 1-off
KM Pekan, formerly PL-02 Erimo (before that was named Ojika) is the 1st of 7 sisterships.
Ojika-class
1) PL-02 Erimo (was named Ojika, now KM Pekan)
2) PL-03 Kudaka
3) PL-04 Yahiko
4) PL-05 Dejima
5) PL-06 Kurikoma
6) PL-07 Satsuma
7) PL-08 Tosa
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%98%E3%81%8B%E5%9E%8B%E5%B7%A1%E8%A6%96%E8%88%B9_(2%E4%BB%A3)