SHAH ALAM: RMN’s second China-made Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) – Sundang – has arrived at its homeport at the Kota Kinabalu naval base in Teluk Sepanggar, this morning. She was greeted on arrival by the Eastern Command commanders and other officials, said the command in its social media post.
Sundang sailed from Qidong, Shanghai, earlier this week. RMN took delivery of the ship just ten days ago at the Wuchuan Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, Wuchang port in Qidong, Shanghai. Her builders started the work on the ship on October 23, 2018 at the Wuchuan manufacturing base in Wuhan. She was launched on July 12, 2019.
The ship was supposed to be delivered to the RMN on April 12, 2020 but was delayed to January 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic which also forced work on the ship to be halted on January 23, 2020. Her crew only returned to Shanghai on October 16, 2020 to continue their training on the ship.
It is expected that the commissioning ceremony will be conducted in February after her crew completed their 10 day quarantine on board the ship as part of the SOP to prevent the spread of Covid 19.
Sundang is expected to be join by her two sister ships, LMS 3 and LMS 4 later this August and September once they are delivered to the RMN after completing their trials also in Shanghai. With their commissioning, it is likely the Keris class 21st LMS squadron is expected to become operational late this year.
KD Keris, the first of class China-made LMS was commissioned in early 2020. Video of her arrival below.
— Malaysian Defence