LANGKAWI: Update on MMEA OPV. The first of class MMEA OPV being built by THHE Fabricators Detini JV is expected to be launched by year end. The first of class OPV and two others are being built at the Pulau Indah Fabrication Yard near Port Klang.
THHE Fabricators Shipbuilding and Shiprepair Senior General Manager Azizul Hanafee Mohd Zin said the project was going smoothly and on schedule after a short delay at its start.
The latest CGI of the MMEA OPV being built by THHE Destini.
He said the company was currently preparing a slipway at the yard to facilitate the launch of the first OPV. He said outfitting of the vessel was expected to be completed within one year.
The latest model of the MMEA OPV
As reported previously the OPV is derived from the Damen 1800 OPV design modified to suit MMEA requirements especially in increasing the number of personnel.
Forward and aft CGI of the MMEA OPV
This also resulted in the elimination of a hangar capable of storing a medium-twin size helicopter. It still a has helipad rated for the same helicopter. It is armed with a single 30mm RWS and a number of machineguns.
The stern view of the MMEA OPV
Azizul said the ship will carry more crew by design by reducing the automated features. The ship’s network is designed to carry 2000 signals compared to 5000 on the Kedah class and 8000 on the LCS.
The latest CGI of the MMEA OPV being built by THHE Destini.
He said the OPV design was suited for other tasking including those required by the RMN.
–Malaysian Defence
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Launched by the year’s end? Good news indeed! Shows that Malaysia really boleh!
Hopefully more of this class of ships will be built for APMM, and the TLDM Kedah Batch 2 to be replaced in its task by more APMM OPVs.
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/apmm-plans/
Better this OPV compare with RMN made in China LMS…
Cheaper, bigger plus helipad…
Now let’s hope the MMEA finds these ships to be sound (from an operational perspective) and the politicians dont take a long time to enable the MMEA to get the other assets it so badly needs.
Will be interesting to find out how happy the MMEA is with the former Japanese ships it has and whether those ships are problematic to keep running on account of age.
personally i like this ship for its price,tonnage and equipment….i really hope we can get more at least up to 9 ship. 3 at selat melaka and the rest for sabah and sarawak…
Marhalim,
Heard the LCS has way more number of signals than 8000. What I have heard is more than 12000. Also, I believe the 5000 signals is on the KEDAH class, not the LEKIU. Not really sure how much on the Yarrow frigates as these were much older ships and the IPMS might not be as sophisticated as on the KEDAH
class.
Reply
Yes you are right on the Kedah, my bad
What classes of signals on board the ships? Does this include signals from machinery control and monitoring?
Who made the decision on buying these OPV? Was it by the retired admiral of mmea? If yes, hope mmea continues this good practice on the good price for the opv
Reply
The previous one, not the one retiring this month
@Jo,
Yes, I have been informed that the number of signals is for all platform systems. It is reduced as automation is limited to Class-required items only.
While the decision on the OPVs was made during the tenure of the previous Ketua Pengarah, the just-retired KP also had a lot of input into the design of the OPVs, such as the stern launch RHIB and the automation levels to be installed.