BHIC Lays Down Keel for Fourth LCS

02 November 2018

Keel laying of fourth LCS (photo : RMN)

Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), an associate of Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), hosted a keel laying ceremony for the fourth unit of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) at Boustead Naval Shipyard (BN Shipyard) in Lumut, Perak, today.

The ceremony marked the symbolic progress of the construction of the fourth of six units of LCS, a powerful warship that will bolster Malaysia’s maritime defence ordered by RMN from BNS. They will replace ageing RMN warships and will be a significant addition to RMN’s armada in transforming itself into a lean, mean, modern and highly capable navy.

The LCS’ dimensions are as impressive as its power and capabilities. It has a length overall of 111 m, a beam main deck of 16 m and a depth main deck of 8.35 m. It will feature a crew of highly trained 138 RMN personnel. The ship can sail at a maximum speed of 28 knots with an endurance of 21 days at sea.

The LCS is capable of operating in multi-dimensional warfare situations, thanks to its impressive array of state-of the-art armaments. These include BOFORS medium calibre gun, VL MICA surface to air missiles, NSM surface to surface missiles, TLS-M SEA torpedo launching system and SYLENA Mk2 decoy launching system. Its combat and sensor systems are equally as impressive, which include the cutting edge SETIS Combat Management System, VIGILE 100 Mk2S Electronic Warfare System and SMART-S Mk2 search radar.

Located in Lumut, Perak next to the RMN base, BN Shipyard is the largest naval shipyard in Malaysia in terms of capacity. It has a strong track record and proven capabilities in the construction and repair of naval vessels. It can also undertake the construction and reparation of commercial vessels including luxury yachts, anchor handling tugs and offshore supply vessels. The yard is also a fabrication centre for container cranes and heavy steel structures such as topsides for the oil & gas industry.

The laying of the keel was officiated by Yang Berhormat Senator Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Defence Minister. In his address, Senator Liew said that the Government was pleased that a project of such magnitude utilising high technology can be undertaken at a local shipyard and features much local content in areas such as design, engineering and construction.

“This augurs well with the Government’s aspiration to enhance skilled human resources to make Malaysia a high income economy through skills based, value adding and innovation driven activities,” said Senator Liew.

BNS’ Managing Director, who is also BHIC’s Executive Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Ahmad Ramli Hj Mohd Nor, said, “The keel laying ceremony of this fourth unit of LCS stands testimony to BN Shipyard’s ability to undertake and deliver sizeable newbuilding projects of national importance.”

“BNS is proud to work with RMN’s LCS team to deliver these ships which are of tremendous strategic value to the nation’s maritime defence and will become among the key assets to safeguard the nation’s maritime interests and support its defence diplomacy,” said Ahmad Ramli.

Ahmad Ramli added, “We are encouraged by the Government’s continuous support of our nation’s maritime defence effort, and we are hopeful that this will bode well for BN Shipyard and its vendors. As a Government Linked Company, BHIC puts great emphasis in developing vendors by giving them the opportunity to be involved in huge projects such as LCS, and exposure to high technology required in its construction.”

“Construction of the first four units of LCS, including this fourth one, is progressing well. BN Shipyard is on track to deliver all six units of the LCS to RMN by 2023 as targeted and we are proud to be involved in this prestigious project and contribute to national security through building these assets,” said Ahmad Ramli.

(Focus)