SHAH ALAM: The RMN has taken delivery of two Hilux double cab pick-ups as part of the barter trade for the former KD Mutiara which was decommissioned in 2018. A ceremony was held today (June 23) for the delivery of the two Hilux at the Defence Ministry. The two Hilux will be operated by KD Sri Gombak (the RMN unit at the Defence Ministry and the Lumut Protela unit (the naval provost or MP).

It is likely the barter trade involved the company which was awarded the contract to buy the ex-Mutiara hull. Instead of paying the government with cash, they instead paid with the two pickups instead. The RMN release below did not say what happened to the ex-Mutiara.

PENYERAHAN DUA BUAH KENDERAAN TOYOTA HILUX KEPADA TLDM
TLDM telah menerima dua buah kereta Toyota Hilux Double Cab 2.4 E AT hasil barter trade bagi Kapal Ex MUTIARA. Majlis penyerahan telah diadakan di KD SRI GOMBAK, yang juga merupakan salah satu unit penerima bersama PROTELA Lumut.
Sesi penyerahan kereta telah dilaksanakan oleh Puan Julisah binti Awang dari Cawangan Pengurusan Aset KEMENTAH dan disaksikan oleh Kdr Shamsuddin bin Saidina Abu Bakar TLDM, Pegawai Staf 1 Aset di Bahagian Materiel, Markas Tentera Laut.
Adalah diharap dengan adanya kenderaan ini, kesiapsiagaan pasukan dapat dipertingkatkan lagi dan meringankan bebanan yang dihadapi oleh unit kerana aset sedia ada yang usang. Kenderaan boleh dapat dimanfaatkan oleh pasukan dan digunakan sebagai kenderaan sokongan untuk pelbagai tugasan logistik dan sesuai digunakan untuk membawa peralatan sokongan bantuan serta aset mudah alih bagi keperluan operasi.

A check with the UMW Toyota Malaysia website that the same Hilux involved in the barter trade, goes for some RM119,880 each (before registration, insurance, and road tax.)

Malaysian Defence covered the decommissioning of Mutiara back in 2018.

KD Mutiara, one of two hydrographic ships of the navy was decommissioned today, some 41 years after she was put into service with the RMN. She is the second – though the first Kapal DiRaja – to be decommissioned under the service 15 to 5 transformation plan. The first ship to be decommissioned as part of the plan was a tug boat, Kepah. Kepah was formerly known as KTD Kepah.

Unfortunately, she was also the last ship to be decommissioned as part of the 15-to-5 transformation plan as it (the plan) had gone haywire already at that point.

— Malaysian Defence

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