Navy patrol ship almost sinks following leak in engine room

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KUALA LUMPUR: A Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) patrol ship, KD Pari, almost sank when its main engine room sprang a leak after one of its shafts came off.

The incident was said to have occurred at 2.53pm on Thursday when the “Fast Attack Craft” had just left Pulau Layang-Layang to patrol the Gugusan Semarang Peninjau in Sabah waters.

All nine officers and 27 other crew members of the ship, however, were safe.

Public Relations Officer of the RMN Headquarters, Lt Cdr Masliza Maaris, said in a statement here yesterday that swift action by the Commanding Officer and the crew however succeeded in bringing the vessel closer to the Pulau Layang-Layang jetty.

“After getting close to the jetty, the vessel half sank as it took in too much water despite using several mobile pumps to pump out the water,” she said.

Mazliza said, however, with the help of RMN divers, KD Pari was set afloat again using lifting bags.

She said further investigation would be carried out to determine the actual cause of the incident.

KD Pari, which was commissioned on March 23, 1977, has a speed of 32 knots. — Bernama