LUMUT: South Korean designed training ships – Teguh Samudera and Gagah Samudera – were finally commissioned into the RMN today. With the commissioning both ships are officially known as KD Gagah Samudera (271) and KD Teguh Samudera (272).
They are now part of the Skuadron 27 training unit. Both ships were supposed to be commissioned by late 2013 but that was scrubbed as both were left uncompleted after their launch as its original builder was foreclosed by its financial institution after the company failed to service its own loan.
Gagah and Teguh with their ships colours after the commissioning ceremony
The Defence Ministry took several years to overcome the issue before awarding the contract to Grade One Marine Shipyard in Lumut to complete both ships. The contract for Grade One was awarded on Mar. 27, 2016.
For more on the training ships saga go here , here and here.
Teguh was launched on Feb. 27, 2013, some after two months after Gagah was launched (Dec 14, 2012) Both were supposed to be commissioned within six months after their launch at the NGV Tech Sdn Bhd yard in Sinjangkang, Selangor. The ship yard was foreclosed by Maybank soon after Teguh was launched as its owners failed to service their loans.
The first commanding officers of Gagah and Teguh are Cdr. Mahamad Nazir Darus and Cdr. Ahmad Nazim Salomon.
The COs of Teguh (left) and Gagah
Speaking to reporters after the commissioning ceremony, RMN chief Adm. Kamarulzaman Badaruddin says that the two ships will be under the command of the service’s training command. It is for this reason, he says that they are not part of the RMN’s fleet and therefore was not part of the 15 to 5 transformation plan
The MSI 30mm RWS of Teguh and Gagah
Kamarulzaman says for the time being, as RMN was short of vessels for operational tasking, both Gagah and Teguh would from time to time, apart from its main role of training new sailors, be assigned for such roles.
In conjunction with the navy’s 84 anniversary (Apr. 27), the RMN will open its bases to the public on Apr. 28 and 29 for ship visits as well as other activities. The bases opened to the public are Lumut, Kuantan, Langkawi, Tanjung Pengelih and Kota Kinabalu.
–Malaysian Defence
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Hmm…
KD Hang Tuah although a training ship was counted as a part of the previous 15 classes, but the gagah class does not count into the latter 5.
Btw KD Sultan Ismail in Tg Pengelih will also do an open house for the navy’s 84th anniversary
Well done for the KAPAL DIRAJA status at last.
…. – ”but the gagah class does not count into the latter 5.”
It’s also bizarre that ships that are leased and are not commissioned RMN assets are included in the ”15” list. Yet the pair of FTVs which are commissioned assets are not included.
@ marhalim
http://m.utusan.com.my/berita/nasional/tldm-lonjak-transformasi-8232-ke-arah-kecemerlangan-atm-1.659110
Nice and on time recapitalisation of the CB-90 fleet. IMO get new CB-90 with armour and RCWS to replace the old one one to one.
Btw i have emailed to you on gmail on a comment in ‘broken record’
Assuming they haven’t become uneconomical to maintain – due to age – and their hulls are not damaged [a problem is driftwood hitting the hull when the boat is moving at high speeds] the CB90 fleet still has quite a few years left. Ballistic panels and a RCWS can easily be mounted. Some may have the impression that the fleet is mostly busy supporting PASKAL and things like that but the fact is that most of were they do are mundane tasks like local patrols around the Spratlys, ship to shore transfers, transporting people from the Spratlys to the mainland and back, etc. If I recall correctly, a former RMN chief was the local agent.
Yes right now the CB90s are used for patrols that something like the perdana class should do, and those perdanas doing something OPVs should do.
That is why i am preferring a 2 tier LMS procurement. So that the CB90s could remain in near shore and littoral tasks. Not open sea duties like sailing from kota kinabalu to the spratlys. Those LMS-B could be used for fast long range patrols, logistic support, personnel transfer, MCM, minelaying etc etc
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LMS-concept-2.jpg
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/another-perspective-lms/
Not really. In the Spratlys the CB-90s are used for close inshore surveillance and for personnel movement within the various reefs. Same with ESSCOM; they perform close inshore surveillance which is also done by similar size craft operated by the MMEA and Marine Police. Both roles don’t require anything larger.
The FACs venture further out for surveillance than the CB-90s do; in the EEZ. The problem is seakeeping; which of course also affects the CB-90’s ability to put to sea during certain Sea States. The CB-90s don’t conduct independent patrols in open waters. As for personnel transfers from the Spratlys to the mainland; it’s not an issue as the CB-90 has the range. It’s also more practical to use it for this role rather than a FAC or in the future and LMS. Also more practical to base a CB-90 there rather than a larger vessel; whether a LMS or something else.
Unless there is no alternative why use a FAC or a LMS for stuff like ”logistic support, personnel transfer” when there are smaller, cheaper to run ships for the job and when doing such mundane roles prevents the FAC and LMS from doing other more vital stuff. At the moment if something with a heavier lift capacity is needed for moving stuff to the Spratlys; the FTVs are used.
In short we are using the CB-90s for the roles they are intended to perform – whether to support PASKAL, inshore patrols or other stuff. Unlike the case with the FACs of course; littoral ships intended for patrols and sea denial but for want of anything else are used to patrol the EEZ.
@ azlan
As i said
“So that the CB90s could remain in near shore and littoral tasks.”
which is what you are refering to in as not really in your post.
The CB90 is a small 16m in length boat that is in the same class of MMEAs Penggalang fast interceptors. It is okay to use them for personnel transfer between Gugusan Semarang Peninjau stations or between islands in ESSCOM, but IMO the transfer between Kota Kinabalu and GSP is a bit too far.
….
I’m not sure what wasn’t in my post but I clearly detailed the roles the CB-90s perform. They perform roles they’re suited for. Those roles don’t include EEZ patrol and don’t call for anything larger. Personnel transfer from the Spratlys is also done by the FTVs; it depends on what’s available. The CB-90 has enough range to get to the mainland [Labuan] from the Spratlys; the problem is it depends on the sea state and of course the number of passengers.