Submarine rescue vessel tested and proven in drill

On solid ground: L/Muda Abdul Rahman (left) meeting navy personnel from the ‘MV Mega Bakti’ during the six-nation exercise in South Korea.

KOTA KINABALU: A Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) vessel used for submarine escape and rescue has proven its mettle at an international exercise in South Korea.

The MV Mega Bakti 30 crew members with 12 Royal Malaysian Navy officers and personnel successfully completed a simulation to transfer the crew of submarine that was stuck underwater from May 23 to June 3.

The simulation was among the drills in the Exercise Pacific Reach 2016 at Jinhae, South Korea, involving the host country, the United States, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.

“We are proud of the crew of the ship because they have done a great job over there,” said navy Submarine Force Commander Laksamana Muda Datuk Abdul Rahman Ayob after welcoming Mega Bakti at its Sepanggar home port here yesterday.

He said simulations involving the Mega Bakti involved the rescue of the crew of the Australian navy’s HMAS Rankin, a Collins class submarine and the South Korean navy’s ROKS Changbogo submarine.

L/Muda Abdul Rahman said that rescue ships’ involvement in a large scale exercise proved the Malaysian navy’s capability in operating its submarine force especially with the support of a Submarine Escape and Rescue Intervention (SMER) vessel like the Mega Bakti.

He said the involvement of the ship was in line with the navy’s submarine development programme to prove its rescue capabilities.

“I hope the crew will learn from their experience in Korea and enhance their skills in SMER operations,” he added.

Among the exercises conducted by the six countries were a command post exercise which incorporated an alert and mobilisation exercise, a medical symposium and a comprehensive programme between the participating submarines and rescue systems designed to enhance the training exercise.