SHAH ALAM: In the previous post, German Design Out, Malaysian Defence wrote that the stranglehold of the Fassmer design on MMEA is finally over. It started with NGPC – Bagan Datuk class – and it appears NGPC Batch 2 will not follow the same design.
This is because apart from a tender to supply the NGPC Batch 2, the shipyard – that built the Bagan Datuk class boats, according to MMEA director-general Rear Admiral (Maritime) Rosli Abdullah was no longer active. He was met at the MMEA media day on November 9. It must be noted that checks on Destini Bhd website, showed that it still list Destini Armada which according to the company,
The Destini Armada group of companies, which includes Vanguarde and Techno Fibre Group, is able to offer manufacturing and construction services together with maintenance and through-life support for a wide variety of government and commercial vessels. Destini Armada has the capability to construct specialist vessels of up to 100 meters in length as well as manufacture lifeboats and integrated davit systems for government agencies, shipping and offshore industries.
Destini Armada wholly owned Destini Shipbuilding and Engineering Sdn Bhd (DSBE) which was the builder of the Bagan Datuk patrol vessels. The boats were built at the Destination Marine Services Sdn Bhd shipyard in Port Klang. Although not featured on the Destini main website, DSBE page could still be accessed though it must be done directly using its full name on a search engine.
That said Destini is still facing a legal action with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) which want to wind up down DSBE for the failure to pay taxes.
With DSBE not in contention of NGPC Batch 2, it is likely that a new design will be chosen for the project. Rosli, however did not want to go into detail about the project. He said as long as the builder comes up with a boat that match their requirements. He said for example, they need a patrol boat for certain range and speed and the one that matched them will likely be selected.
It must be noted that the infographic posted by MMEA (above) after the 2025 budget was announced revealed that the cost of the two boats at RM160 million meaning each ship will cost RM80 million each.
That said it is likely the new ships will be like the Bagan Datuk class ships which are 44.25 meter in length, a top speed of 24 knots and a range of 2000 nautical miles at 14 knots. It is likely that the new ship will have 41 crew members like the Bagan Datuk class. It is the 41-crew requirement that made the Bagan Datuk class look different from the original design from Fassmer which has a crew of not more than 20. Checks showed that most patrol boats in the same class of Bagan Datuk usually have a crew of below 20.
— Malaysian Defence
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