Malaysia Receives First of 4 Large Patrol Ships Built in China.

The first Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) "Keris" was formally handed over by Mainland China to the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM or RMN) on December 2 2019, during a ceremony held in Qidong, Shanghai, China.

The handover of Keris (with pennant number 111) took place in a ceremony held on 31 December at the facilities of Wuchang Shipbuilding at Qidong (Picture source: Royal Malaysian Navy)

The ceremony was attended by Ir Teck Chee (Boustead Naval Shipyard), Dato’ Ahmad Husaini bin Abdul Rahman (Ministry of Defence), Mr Xu Ziqiu (China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. Ltd), Eastern Fleet Commander and RMN Chief Engineer…

Four Malaysian officials led by Defense Ministry secretary Ahmad Husaini Abdul Rahman received the documents after examining the Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) during a handover ceremony at the Wucang Port in Shanghai, the navy said in a statement.

The patrol ship is part of a four-vessel contract, which was originally worth about 1.17 billion ringgit (U.S. $289 million) that was approved by former Prime Minister Najib Razak in April 2017.

The contract price dropped to around 1 billion ringgit (U.S. $256 million) after Malaysia agreed that all four ships would be built and delivered in China. The initial plan stipulated that the last two units would be built in Malaysia by the state-affiliated Boustead Naval Shipyard, but the deal was updated in March this year.

The new ship is scheduled to be commissioned on January 6 next year, the statement said. It said Admiral Syed Zahrul Putra Syed Abdullah, the Malaysian navy’s Eastern Fleet commander, witnessed the signing ceremony and Malaysian officials also took part in the ship’s demonstration voyage.

While the patrol vessel is euphemistically called a littoral mission ship (LMS), it is generally considered a warship often armed with various weapons, such as either a 20 mm or a 30 mm main gun, and torpedo launchers. Its flight deck can accommodate a medium-size helicopter.

For the record, Admiral Ahmad Badaruddin Kamarulzaman, the Royal Malaysian Navy chief, told reporters in April 2017 that the nation would eventually have a total of 18 LMS in its fleet.