17 Desember 2015

Two Radar Stations Expected to be Ready by Next Year — MMEA

17 Desember 2015

Syarikat Destini would build six patrol vessels, measuring 44m for MMEA (image : Perajurit)

PORT KLANG: Two radar stations to boost the  monitoring and enforcement in the Straits of Melaka by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) are expected to be completed latest by next year.

MMEA director-general Maritime Datuk Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said the stations would be built on Pulau Jarak, Perak and Pulau Perak, Kedah.

He said MMEA was in the process of identifying suitable sites for the stations which would cost a total RM50 million.

“The two stations will boost monitoring by MMEA in the Straits of Melaka with a distance reach capability exceeding 30 nautical miles in good weather,” he told a media conference after attending a Keel-Laying ceremony for the construction of patrol vessels for MMEA by Destini Berhad Group here, yesterday.

The ceremony was officiated by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim.

Ahmad Puzi said, currently, MMEA had nine radar stations in the waters of the Straits of Melaka to monitor and channel information to MMEA patrol vessels and ships about suspicious boats.

He said MMEA also had three radar stations in Sabah which covered Kota Kinabalu to Kudat.

New Generation Patrol Craft

In the meantime, he said there was a pressing need to replace MMEA’s assets as some ships and boats were dilapidated and had exceeded their normal service shelf life.

He said that many ships and boats had numerous shortcomings due to old age although MMEA was only reaching 10 years old.

“Some assets which were given to MMEA by other enforcement agencies are 30 to 51 years old and it is time they are replaced with new ships,” he said, adding MMEA currently had 245 assets comprising ships and boats.

Meanwhile, Destini Berhad Group chairman, Tan Sri Rodzali Daud, in his speech during the ceremony, said the company would build six patrol vessels, measuring 44.25 metres each, for MMEA, with Syarikat Destini Shipbuilding and Engineering Sdn Bhd entrusted to manage and administer the whole project.

He said the six patrol vessels, worth RM381.3 million, would be handed to MMEA in stages starting at the end of December 2016 until June 2018.

He said the coastal patrol vessels could achieve a top speed of 24 knots and would have 41 crew members. The vessels, he said, would also be equipped with 30mm weapon systems and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for reconnaissance.

(The Borneo Post)

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