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Mawilla 4 Site at Muara Tebas

The site for Mawilla 4, marked in red. Google Maps screenshot.

SHAH ALAM: On Sunday, the Chief of Defence Force General Nizam Jaffar announced that the site for the RMN Regional Command Headquarters Four or Markas Wilayah Laut Empat (MAWILLA 4) will be at Muara Tebas in Kuching near the estuary of the Sarawak river.

Nizam and RMN chief Admiral Zulhelmy Itnain visited the chosen site today at Muara Tebas, which is located next to Kampung Goebilt and the Sijangkat power station. Media reports quoted the Admiral as saying that the Goebilt settlement will remain as it is. The land chosen for the development belongs to the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation.

The blue outline marked the boundary of land likely as the site for Mawilla 4. The settlement on the left is Kampung Goebilt while the right is the Sijangkat power station. Google Maps screenshot.

Based on a Google Map view, the site chosen is space constrained and look smaller than the MMEA Sarawak headquarters located nearby (see below). I stand to be corrected, of course.
The Red outline marked the site for the Mawilla 4 while the yellow outline is the MMEA Sarawak headquarters. Google Map view.

Due to the size of the land, I am guessing that it is likely the site could only accommodate the headquarters, other administrative buildings, and jetty for the ships while other facilities including quarters and other facilities will need to be built at another location nearby.


Zulhelmy was quoted as saying that the new base can accommodate ships to 120 meters though. From Borneo Online:

KUCHING (March 24): The natural depth of the Muara Tebas coastline makes it an ideal site for the construction of the new Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) Naval Region 4 (Mawilla 4) headquarters, said RMN chief Admiral Datuk Dr Zulhelmy Ithnain.

Highlighting security concerns in the South China Sea, he emphasised that establishing the naval base is strategically important for the region.

“We are still evaluating the site, but it appears to be an ideal location for the construction of Mawilla 4.

“We see that many other coastal areas (in Sarawak) require significant dredging. However, Muara Tebas offers a natural depth of 14 metres, sufficient to accommodate ships of up to 120 metres in length without extensive seabed modifications,” he said at a press conference after his working visit at the site here this morning.

Also present during the visit was Defence Force chief Gen Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar

KRI Banjarmasin. Boustead Naval Shipyard had offered a bigger variant of this LPD for the RMN MRSS requirement. Malaysian Defence picture.

It is interesting to note that if the base could accommodate ships up to 120 meters, RMN future MRSS may well not be the UAE version of the Makassar class as the ship is 163 meters long. The rest of the current and future RMN surface combatants will be able to berth there though.

— Malaysian Defence

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Tags KuchingMakassar classMawilla 4MRSSMuara TebasRMNSarawakTLDM
Marhalim Abas: Shah Alam

View Comments (15)

  • "Boustead Naval Shipyard had offered a bigger variant of this LPD"
    Makassar class are actually spot on the size being merely 2mtr overshoot (122m length) so it maybe that TLDM is really looking for the Makassar class after all and not a derivative.

  • Makassar class was based on a commercial ferry design and for auxiliary or hospital ship its ok. But for multi purpose use i think there are better options & price structures. Negotiate a 20-30 years contract & buy in bulk will be cheaper. Lets say now we buy 2 but another 2 in 2030 & another 2 units in 2035. So total would be 6 units. I am sure we will get a cheaper price if we do this. The design from Damen or HHI. Def minister buat kerja sikit lah. Use purchasing strategy for better price.

  • Thought RMN had change the MRSS specification recently. Their infographic on their booths at various recent exhibitions show they no longer wanted a MRSS with 3 helo deck but the more traditional 2. Probably because they recently included HSV in their force mix. No?

    Though it can still be the UAE variant of the Makassar, with that the HSV become an option rather than a necessity. Personally I rather just buy from Japan finance through they extremely long periods with extremely low 1% interest rate. With our current inflation rate and yen continued downslip a 1% loan rate mean the ship would be in financial terms even cheaper than an outright purchase.

  • Zaft,

    There are opinions and counter arguments but the reality is that the RMN has decided that a multi role MPSS is what is needed to perform various peace and wartime roles. Also, as I pointed out years ago the mention of modular payloads on the 15/5 was out of sheer necessity, not choice. Pros and cons at play in deciding whether to go for a purpose built platform or modular payloads.

    What works for others might not work for some. Nice to get on about cost effectiveness vjy it has to enable the capability and fulfill requirements.

  • Qanarul - "Negotiate a 20-30 years contract & buy in bulk will be cheaper. Lets say now we buy 2 but another 2 in 2030 & another 2 units in 2035"

    The problem here is we don't need 6 hulls and getting the government to make and carry out such a long term commitment is unrealistic.

    ... - ". So total would be 6 units. I am sure we will get a cheaper price"

    Not necessarily. There is inflation to factor in a other variables. Why would the yard commit to something stretched over such a period when prices will rise.

  • Reality can change. And we could offer better alternative plans that could be implemented by our military.

    For modular systems, something that was in its infancy 5-10 years ago are now matured systems being bought by many navies.

    You have repeated the same thing about how TUDM have zero requirements of Legacy Hornets, or FA-50 when i proposed for both of them. But look at what they are choosing now, and how it is a much better alternative cost-wise and technological-wise rather than getting expensive Rafales or Typhoons. With the intrim MRCA the Legacy Hornets, and FA-50 replacing TUDM workhorses for FLIT and QRA, TUDM is now better set up to get wider options for its 5G MRCA in around 2030 and beyond.

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  1. Mawilla 4 Site at Muara Tebas, Part 2
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