Commissioning Just Before LIMA?

SHAH ALAM: It appears that the first MMEA OPV – OPV Tun Fatimah – is expected to be commissioned just before LIMA 23, this May. This was likely following the visit of Home Minister DS Shaifuddin Nasution to TH Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (THHE) shipyard at Pulau Indah in Klang today. Tun Fatimah had been tied up at the THHE dock since her launching on October 10.

He made the visit following the news that the Finance Ministry had to extend a RM152.5 million to complete the three OPVs contracted to THHE in 2017. In his release, Shaifuddin said that THHE had made the commitment to finish the construction of the ship by March 1. The release:

Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malaysia (APMM) merupakan agensi di bawah Kementerian Dalam Negeri yang peranannya cukup penting bagi memastikan Zon Maritim Malaysia selamat dan aman.
Sewaktu lawatan kerja saya ke APMM pagi tadi, saya mendapat taklimat berhubung perkembangan semasa APMM dalam menjalankan fungsi mereka.
Cabaran APMM cukup hebat dan kompleks dalam mengawal Zon Maritim Malaysia. Mana tidaknya, di perairan Selat Melaka sahaja pada tahun 2022 telah mencatatkan sejumlah 60,000 kapal yang melalui laluan ini, ia tidak termasuk lagi kapal-kapal kecil yang jumlah keseluruhannya boleh menjangkau 90,000 buah kapal. Ini sekaligus menjadikan Selat Melaka sebagai laluan paling sibuk di dunia.
Lantaran itu, Malaysia berdepan beberapa risiko dan ancaman seperti pencerobohan PATI, penyeludupan dadah, pemerdagangan manusia, pencerobohan nelayan asing, penyeludupan senjata api, pencemaran dan banyak lagi. Tentunya ini perlu diberi perhatian serius kerana ia melibatkan soal keselamatan rakyat dan kedaulatan negara.
Sehubungan itu, bagi memastikan APMM dibekalkan aset yang sesuai dan berteknologi tinggi, melalui Mesyuarat Jemaah Menteri pada rabu lepas, Menteri Kewangan yang juga Perdana Menteri telah mengangkat satu kertas kabinet untuk memberikan suntikan sebanyak RM 152.5 juta khusus kepada menangani masalah pembinaan 3 buah kapal pesisir pantai (OPV) yang sepatutnya diserahkan pada 2 tahun lepas.
Komitmen terbaru syarikat pembinaan kapal ini adalah untuk menyiapkan sekurang-kurangnya 1 kapal pada bulan Mac ini.
Saya akan mengikuti secara dekat perkembangan pembinaan kapal serta aspek lain yang boleh menyumbang kepada usaha memastikan APMM dapat melaksanakan tanggungjawab mereka dengan sebaiknya.

However, it must be noted that during his press conference, Shaifuddin said after his inspection, he believed that the ship would not be ready for hand-over to MMEA this March. “They will need more time, to be honest but it will be within this year. He also said that the work on the second OPV is expected to be ready this October.

As posted previously, MMEA’s first NGPC – KD Bagan Datuk – was commissioned just ahead of LIMA 2017. So there is precedence for MMEA to commission its new ship just ahead of the show. From the pictures of the visit, it appears that Tun Fatimah looked ready for commissioning. She looked exactly like the CGI that was first published here some years back. Still not fitted it appears are the main gun (a government furnished equipment), the interceptor boats (only shown is the empty cradle on the starboard side upper) and the communication dome on top of her mast (which is painted black instead of white like on the CGI)k

— Malaysian Defence

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