THE Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project is now plagued with further delays with the commissioning of the first vessel falling behind schedule, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister said according to Lumut Naval Shipyard (Lunas), the overall progress of the combat vessels has only reached 75.75% when it was supposed to have reached a completion rate of 81.57%.
The current progress of the first vessel has only reached 82.9% compared to the planned 96.52%.
“The project progress covers the construction of the ship’s structure, installation of major equipment and integration of the ship’s systems.
“Although there have been delays, the ministry was informed by Lunas that LCS Ship 1 has been successfully launched and is now in the phase of installation and integration of its main systems,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.
The sea trial phase for LCS Ship 1 commenced on Jan 20 this year, followed by the first sea-going trial on Jan 28.
This phase includes testing the machinery, power system, air-conditioning system and propulsion system.
“The initial process is intended to ensure LCS Ship 1 is capable of navigating at sea while platform and equipment preparations are being actively undertaken to enable full sea trials to begin in early April,” Mohamed Khaled said.
He also said the commissioning schedule for LCS Ship 1 has been revised to December, which will be four months behind the original plan.
LCS Ship 2 has been rescheduled to August 2027 while LCS Ship 3 remains in December 2027, LCS Ship 4 in August 2028 and LCS Ship 5 in April 2029.
Mohamed Khaled said a total of RM8.3bil out of the RM11.2bil contract value have been spent so far.
“To ensure ongoing transparency and regulatory oversight, the ministry has established several monitoring platforms including the Project Management Review, Project Monitoring Committee and a Technical Committee which meets regularly with full involvement from the Royal Malaysian Navy as the end-user and Lunas,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah) on the status of the sea trial for LCS Ship 1 KD Maharajalela and whether the vessel will be able to be commissioned according to schedule.
Under the multibillion-ringgit project signed in 2014, six LCS ships were supposed to be delivered in stages beginning in 2019 but none was completed on time.
The delays resulted in the construction cost increasing from RM9.128bil to RM11.22bil, an increase of RM2.098bil.
