KD Sri Inderapura fire: Commanding Officer’s service terminated

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LUMUT: The commanding officer of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) biggest logistic vessel, KD Sri Inderapura which was gutted by fire while berthed at the Lumut naval base, had his service terminated two days after he was court marshalled on Jan 25.

TOUGH ENOUGH: Ahmad Zaid cecks out the outfit of a RMN’s special unit. —Bernama photo

TOUGH ENOUGH: Ahmad Zaid cecks out the outfit of a RMN’s special unit. —Bernama photo

RMN chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the Military Court found the KD Sri Inderapura commanding officer guilty of two charges and the penalty was confirmed last month.

“The Military Court decided that the commanding officer’s service from the Malaysian Armed Forces be terminated. It was a sad outcome, considering the officer’s brilliant service with the RMN, but everything that happens to a ship is the responsibility of its commanding officer.”

He said this after the conferment of the Honorary Beret of the RMN’s Special Maritime Unit and Honorary Air Wings on Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi at the RMN base, here, today.

“We lost the ship in the fire and the commanding officer was responsible for that loss. We can accept damage to a ship caused by fire but we cannot loose a ship due to a fire. This was the first time where RMN lost an asset (ship) in a fire.”

He said due to the incident on Oct 8, 2008, KD Sri Inderapura which had served RMN for 14 years and had carried out various missions and operations in international waters, was officially decommissioned on Jan 21 this year.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said the honours he received today would require his greater commitment to RMN so that “it becomes a force that is not only able to meet international standards but its assets and preparedness to also be at the highest level”.

“The RMN’s role at the international level where it managed to provide security for Malaysian cargo ships through ‘Ops Fajar’ was recognised by the international maritime fraternity.

It is now a benchmark in looking after a country’s assets in international waters. The action has also been emulated by other countries.”

The honorary wings and beret are given to individuals who have contributed a lot to the RMN and its development. Ahmad Zahid also presented the OHSAS 1800:2007 certificate, an international standard certification, for the improved and more systematic policy management, for creating greater awareness and organising programmes on occupational safety and health for the staff, and for meeting the standards for KD Duyong, the RMN’s Air Wing’s headquarters and the armada maintenance depot.— Bernama