KOTA KINABALU: The commander of Naval Region Two, Rear Admiral Dato’ Pahlawan Mohammad Rosland Omar, yesterday said that the number of combat ships and submarines in Sabah is not enough for conducting security operation.
Rosland pointed out that there are currently eight patrol ships and six CD90 deployed in Sandakan and another seven patrol ships, six CD90 and two submarines at the Sepanggar base.
“Generally, the number of ships we have in Sabah is not enough. However, we are constantly utilizing ships from Lumut on a rotation basis, so we do not face any shortage problem,” he said during a press conference held yesterday at the Sepanggar’s Royal Malaysian Navy Base.
Rosland then gave an example of the recent rescue of a fisherman boat in Sandakan, where a ship from Lumut was involved.
He revealed that RMN planned to have two practice ships by this year to be placed in Lumut, and another six littoral combat ships to be completed in 2019.
“Unlike the typical commercial ship, combat ships are equipped with electronic equipment which make these ships take a longer time to be built. The littoral ships that we are building are over 100 meters in length, and this will take four to five years to be completed for each ship” he added.
During the press conference, the commander clarified that the RMN submarines had proven they could function well when one of them sailed from Sepanggar base on April 17 this year and reached Lumut in seven days.
“The submarines could not be used in the search for the missing flight MH370 in Malacca due to the depth of water of 50 to 60 metres there which is considered too shallow. If the submarines were used at that time, they could put other commercial ships around the area in danger,” Rosland explained.
“Our submarines are just not built for that, and if they are used for the search, it would not be of much help,” he said.
Rosland also clarified that the submarine that Singapore sent for the search for MH370 was not a submarine, but a Submarine Support and Rescue Vessel, which is a ship.
“In fact, we sent a similar ship for the MH370 search and rescue operation, named Megabakti,” he added.