Sabri waving at KD Tunku Abdul Rahmanat the Fleet Review ceremony.-Bernama photo
KOTA KINABALU (Jan 18): Old assets, which among other things, pose risks to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) personnel and officers, are the main constraint faced by the Eastern Fleet in its operations, said its Commander, Vice Admiral Datuk Sabri Zali.
Hence, he requested the federal government to take the matter seriously and find a way to address the issue, because the Eastern Fleet and RMN in general, are currently still using old assets, especially ships over 45 years old, to safeguard national security.
However, he said that the Eastern Fleet has never used old assets as an excuse from carrying out the responsibility of maintaining the security of the country’s waters, rather that its personnel have been continuously trying to repair the assets so that they can perform their duties well.
“In RMN, ships that are more than 25 years old should no longer be used, but we still use ships which are more than 45 years old, causing several problems, and the maintenance costs are also quite high.
“Despite the constraints, we have never neglected our responsibility to maintain the peace and security of the country, especially in Sabah…all assets, including old assets over 45 years old, are still operating as usual,” he said here on Wednesday.
Sabri was met by reporters after the Fleet Review ceremony to honour him as outgoing chief of the Eastern Fleet, after leading the fleet since Dec 24, 2020.
Rear Admiral, Datuk Muhammad Ruzelme Ahmad Fahimy, was appointed the new Commander of the Eastern Fleet, effective Friday (Jan 20), while Sabri will serve at the Navy headquarters, Ministry of Defence.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Fleet Command Headquarters’ Strategic Communication Division, in a statement, said that Sabri, who always practises a forward-looking policy, has driven the fleet to become a navy which is always ready and capable of defending the Malaysian Maritime Zone in Sabah and Sarawak.
“He always emphasises the operational needs, and is concerned about upgrading the infrastructure at the naval base in Kota Kinabalu and the East MPA jetty, as well as the Naval Region 2 headquarters in Sandakan.
“Sabri is also vocal in fighting for the issue of RMN’s asset needs in parallel with the 15-to-5 Fleet Transformation programme, and is proactive in engaging in high-impact exercises, either intra-RMN or bilaterally with other friendly countries,” read the statement. – Bernama