KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is expecting to complete its sea surveillance system in Sabah within the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020).
Its director-general Datuk Mohd Amdan Kurish said upon completion the Sabah Sea Surveillance System (SSS) would cover the State’s coastline from Sandakan to Labuan with a network of advanced communication systems that could detect and monitor the movement of even the smallest ship from as far as 50 nautical miles.
Speaking at the official launch of the SSS here yesterday, he said the first three of the 10 surveillance posts in the systems were already operational and the agency has applied an allocation for funding the construction of the remainder under the next five-year development plan.
“Initially, 17 strategic locations were identified for the Remote Sensor Site or RSS, which would have covered the entire waters of Sabah. However, due to financial constraint, the government has approved only three RSS, namely Pulau Balambangan, Pulau Mantanani Kecil and Pulau Gaya,” he said.
It is understood that each RSS costs roughly RM20 million to install, depending on the location and geographical terrain of the island.
In a press conference after the launch, Amdan said it was decided that at the moment the system would cover the waters off the west coast, the northern part and all the way to Sandakan district while the area beyond that would be monitored by the military.
“We will be working with other agencies, not just the navy. They already have their own monitoring systems all the way to Kudat areas and if they have information on activities outside the SSS coverage that fall under our jurisdiction, they will relay it to us,” he said.
He also revealed that the agency was planning to expand the system to Sarawak and east Peninsular Malaysia after the one here is fully completed.
He explained that emphasis was given to Sabah due to the perceived higher potential threats and the State’s location that provides multiple direct entry routes for vessels coming from international waters or neighbouring countries.
“Hopefully the whole thing will be up and running with all the remote sensor facilities already in place the latest by the Eleventh National Plan. In the meantime, we would rely on the armed forces for information on suspicious activities, apart from the normal patrols that our vessels conduct.
“The only setback we are facing now is the problem in acquiring the land for constructing these facilities, as some of them are privately owned. We hope the State government can come through and we can proceed with the plan,” he said.
The sea surveillance system, also known as Sabah Swasla, constantly combs the ocean with advanced surveillance radar system, radio detection finders and long rage real image laser surveillance cameras installed at the interlinking network of remote sensors.
The operation of remote sensor facilities are also equipped with Ship Database Processing System, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and multiple digital communication systems.
The entire system is linked to a main control centre in Kota Kinabalu and the Maritime Operation Centre (Maroc) at the MMEA headquarters in Putrajaya, where the detection and tracking of vessels within the area of interest are coordinated.
Swasla can also provide support communications for enforcement and security vessels during operation on sea as well as feeding visual data, information on vessel transit and movement, and collecting and distributing data to other assets.
The system is capable of functioning both day and night and in all weather conditions.