DTN News: Malaysia's Second Submarine Arrives In Lumut

DTN News: Malaysia's Second Submarine Arrives In Lumut

Source: DTN News - Special Report

(NSI News Source Info) LUMUT, Malaysia - July 4, 2010: The KD Tun Razak, the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) second of two Scorpene submarines, arrived at the RMN Base, here, at 4.40pm yesterday.

The official welcoming ceremony was attended by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah and the Raja Dihilir of Perak, Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, while the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah got onboard the ship from Langkawi, Kedah.

Also seen welcoming the submarine were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

The vessel will continue its journey to its base in Teluk Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah after a week here.

The KD Tun Razak set sail from Toulon, France on April 30, manned by 32 officers of the Royal Malaysian Navy. It travelled 13,488km before arriving in Lumut.

The 64-day travel which began in Toulon, France on April 30, included several transit stops at the Iskandariah Port (Egypt), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Salalah (Oman) and Cochin (India) before arriving in Lumut.

Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the submarine had successfully submerged 40 days out of the 47 days it was out at sea. To test the safety of the submarine, Sultan Sharafuddin, as the captain-in-chief of the navy, boarded the submarine from Langkawi, accompanied by Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad and Adm Abdul Aziz. Speaking when receiving the submarine, Adm Abdul Aziz said the navy would not hesitate to take action against companies which leaked its secrets to the public. He said the navy would recommend that the contracts of these companies, which have dealings with the navy, be cancelled or that legal action be taken against them. Adm Abdul Aziz said that of late, there was a dangerous trend where information about the country’s strategic assets and sensitive information was made public via the Inter­net. “Information about the submarines had also been purposely manipulated by certain parties for their own selfish reasons.”