SHAH ALAM: OPV1 – MMEA first new patrol vessel is expected to be delivered to the service by year end. The plan – Malaysian Defence was told – is for OPV1 to be delivered either this October or November. But given our luck with new build ships, it is, I think, better to say the delivery will be by year end.
The exact delivery date is of course to be determined when the MMEA will accept the ship as THHE Shipyard has started yard trials for OPV 1, this week.
Regular reader Api69 was correct when he commented in an earlier story that the delay in delivering the ship – it was supposed to be last month – was due to the late delivery of the Aselsan SMASH 30mm gun.
The yard trials only started this week when the gun was delivered to the shipyard and fitted to the ship. Why the yard trials were not done without the gun, is beyond me. Harbour trials were conducted shortly after OPV1 launch in October, last year. It must be noted that for the first NGPC – KM Bagan Datuk – the Aselsan SMASH 30mm gun was only fitted on her after the commissioning. However, the same guns were fitted to her sister ships prior to their commissioning.
Anyhow, since the gun and some other items onboard the OPV are government-furnished equipment (GFE), one wonders whether the shipyard could be blamed wholly for the new delivery dates.
It must be noted that the OPV1 is now delayed by one year as it was supposed to be delivered by August,last year. It was originally supposed to be delivered by August 23, 2020 but the government had agreed to the extension of time on November 17, 2020 for the delivery to be on August 23, 2022.
The government had also extended a loan to the shipyard to ensure the completion of the project. OPV1 was supposed to be named Tun Fatimah but the MMEA has decided a new name was more befitting for her.
— Malaysian Defence
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Currently with just 2 large OPV (~1800tons displacement) donated by Japan, plus 2 ex-TLDM Muystari-class OPV (1100tons displacement), MMEA badly needs these new OPVs to be in service ASAP.
Maybe we could look into bigger OPVs, like these 3,000 ton korean OPV. Impressively, these large korean OPV costs the same as the 1,800 ton DAMEN 1800.
https://m.pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2022&no=438451
Also, sisterships of KM Pekan, is now in the process of being replaced with new OPVs. Maybe we could add a few more to MMEA fleet?
Malaysia, the land of delays. Fitting for building extended timeline naval vessel.
I hope other big size ships like KM Pekan, KM Arau, KM Marlin, Musytari-class and Perwira-class also be fitted with Aselsan Smash 30 mm gun.
Quite a bit of the delay was due to inability to launch the nameship caused by time taken to clear debris at the slipway.
As for the name, just go back to naming after royal towns.
How about OPV2…any info marhalim??
It’s difficult now to name the ships after royal towns due to the bad image of the project due to the delays. But I guess if they can get the royal backing, it will be good as well.
“Also, sisterships of KM Pekan, is now in the process of being replaced with new OPVs. Maybe we could add a few more to MMEA fleet?”
If JPN want to give it free, maybe can. If not free, maybe we could ask for JPN loan to build new MMEA boats/ships at JPN yards.