Abdul Rahman Ayob appointed new Navy chief

KUALA LUMPUR: Vice-Admiral Datuk Abdul Rahman Ayob has been appointed as the new Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) effective Friday (Jan 27).

He replaces Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza Mohd Sany, who is going on mandatory retirement.

The handover of duties ceremony for the Navy chief was held at Wisma Pertahanan here and was graced by Chief of Defence Forces General Tan Sri Affendi Buang.

Also present were Defence Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Muez Abd Aziz and top military officials.

The appointment also saw Abdul Rahman being the first submariner to become Navy chief.

He joined the Navy as an Officer Cadet on July 2, 1982, and was commissioned as a Sub Lieutenant on June 13, 1984.

Among the positions he had held throughout his service include Commander of the Submarine Force, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Mindanao International Observation Team, Commander of Naval Areas 2, and Commander of Eastern Fleet before being appointed as Deputy Chief of Navy in 2019.

Abdul Rahman’s career as a submariner began in 1993 after he completed his submarine training at HMAS Platypus in Australia and obtained his Submarine Qualification badge.

He then attended a number of submarine familiarisation training courses in Sweden in 1995 and France in 1999 and completed his Basic Submarine Course (AGOSTA Class) in 2006 in France.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Navy expressed its appreciation to Mohd Reza for his 42 years of dedication, especially when leading the force since Nov 30, 2018.

It also announced the appointment of Eastern Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Datuk Sabri Zali as Deputy Chief of the Navy to replace Abdul Rahman.

Sabri has served in the Navy for more than 38 years before being appointed as the Eastern Fleet Commander on Dec 24, 2020. - Bernama