LUMUT: Three naval ships were officially decommissioned in full military traditions at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base here.
The highlight of the ceremony was the symbolic striking of the ship’s bell and the lowering of the commissioning pennant, marking the end of service for the three vessels – KD Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil, KD Laksamana Tan Pusmah and KD Pendekar – each of which had played a significant role in safeguarding the nation’s maritime sovereignty.
KD Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil, a corvette-class warship from the 24th Corvette Squadron, was built in Italy in 1982 and commissioned into service on July 28, 1997.
Over the course of its service, it sailed a total of 486,487.1 nautical miles.
KD Laksamana Tan Pusmah, also a corvette-class vessel from the same squadron, was commissioned on July 31, 1999, and had sailed a total of 315,907.6 nautical miles.
Meanwhile, KD Pendekar, a vessel from the First Fast Attack Craft Squadron, was launched on Nov 11, 1978, and commissioned into service on Aug 21, 1979. It recorded an impressive total of 820,077.64 nautical miles sailed.
Present were Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Dr Zulhelmy Ithnain, as well as 37 former commanding officers of the three ships.
In his speech, he said the three ships had been the backbone of Malaysia’s maritime operations for decades, including during Ops Kekal Warisan, Ops Pejarak and Exclusive Economic Zone patrols, Bernama reported.
Zulhelmy said the acquisition of new assets such as the Littoral Combat Ship and the Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 is planned to replace the decommissioned vessels.
