Friday, March 18, 2011

Navy Getting Another Auxilliary Ship?

Thank you to Mymil forumer Standupper for providing the following article, which seems to be exclusive Bernama news as I cannot find the link nor an English version. Nonetheless it seems after the announcement by the Defence Minister that the Navy can add another auxiliary ship for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden as I hoped before in this posting, the additional ship seems to be becoming a reality. There seems to be a change in the specifications as the concept, shape and details of the ship is still being discussed by the Navy and MISC, who has in principle approved the provision of a second ship to act as the auxiliary ship.

Nonetheless as I have also mentioned in another posting, the responsibility should not solely lie with MISC to provide such auxiliary vessels even though they are a GLC company, and other Malaysian shipping companies should consider providing additional vessels so that more range can be added to the convoy coverage by the Malaysian Navy. This is especially pressing as the Somalians seems to have extended their range and also employed more men in their piracy missions like in the hijacking of this Indonesian vessel yesterday and becoming more deadly at that. Thus efforts to engage other Asian navies like Singapore and India to be more involved should be applauded.

Ok here is the Bernama report on the introduction of the second auxiliary vessel, most probably in September this year.

TLDM dijangka dapat kapal tambahan kedua September

17/03/2011 6:21pm

KUALA LUMPUR 17 Mac – Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) dijangka mendapat sebuah lagi kapal pengiring bagi melindungi keselamatan kapal-kapal dagang berkepentingan negara di perairan Teluk Aden pada September depan, kata Panglima Tentera Laut, Laksamana Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

Beliau berkata, pada dasarnya syarikat perkapalan, MISC Berhad telah meluluskan penugasan sebuah lagi kapal dagang untuk ditransformasikan sebagai kapal tambahan TLDM yang kedua.

"TLDM dan MISC masih berbincang termasuk menentukan konsep, bentuk dan ciri-ciri kapal kedua itu,” katanya di pejabatnya di sini hari ini.

"Kapal tambahan pertama iaitu Bunga Mas 5 mengambil masa tiga bulan untuk perbincangan awal dan tiga bulan lagi untuk diubah suai menjadi kapal bantuan TLDM.

"Justeru dengan pengalaman itu, anggaran paling lama untuk kita melihat cadangan itu direalisasikan ialah enam bulan dan saya percaya MISC Berhad telah pun membuat penilaian untuk penugasan kapal kedua tersebut,” katanya. – Bernama

4 comments:

ben sungib said...

Tahniah to MISC for providing an additional auxiliary ship to TLDM for its anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Eden. Something worth giving for the protection of its other vessels as well as part of MISC's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)to our other shipping companies plying the pirate-infested sea route.

Can't agree more with Mumuchi that other Malaysian shipping companies should also consider providing additional vessels so that more range can be added to the convoy coverage by our Navy. This is one way of countering the new 'modus operandi' adopted by the Somali pirates ie extending their area of operations as well as employing more men in carrying out their piracy missions.

Hazwan said...

Thnaks MISC. But the fact that the navy need to lease a ship from MISC for military uses is deplorable. The need for MPSS need to be addressed soon. Govt must address the need of the navy first before the need of the contractors. Second hand MPSS are widely available with the downsizing of the Britsh navy and the other European navies. Obtaining one of those on a fast track basis will make it easier to the RMN..

mumuchi said...

Well if you are thinking of getting a Bay Class from the Royal Navy, the RAN has already made a formal request for transfer.

Kamarul said...

Indon's LPDs look good..and cheap also..circa USD 30 million each.

http://defense-studies.blogspot.com/2009/11/lpd-ke-4-akan-lebih-besar-dari-kri.html