IT is naval tradition for a battleship to be named and launched while under construction and this was the case with the littoral combat ship that was launched in Lumut in 2017, said Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

The former Royal Malaysian Navy chief admiral said the public should not be fooled by talk that the launch was aimed at deceiving them.

“I have to inform the public that the ship that was launched was the real LCS1, which was under construction and not a dummy. This also included the mast (for the ship), which was rumoured to be false,” said the retired naval chief in a statement today while pointing out that he was present at the launch

He posted the statement on his twitter account.

Ahmad Kamarulzaman noted that navy representative Kapt Azhar Jummat had explained this aspect of the operation to the Public Accounts Committee when he had given his testimony on Dec 21, last year.

“All this was explained during the PAC. I hope there will be no parties who will take the opportunity to turn this into an issue for their personal benefit,” he added.

His clarification came after viral posts on social media questioned the launch of the ship, which many claimed was staged after the Public Accounts Committee had highlighted and explained it in its report.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had disclosed that the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) first state-of-the-art Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was not yet completed when it was launched.

PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh said the committee’s proceedings found that LCS 1 was less than 44% complete at the time of the launch.

He said according to witness accounts, the naming and launch of the LCS was only to provide the impression to the public that the vessel was already completed.

“During the proceedings, PAC had asked the witness to specify what the launch ceremony was for and whether the ceremony was meant to give the perception or image that the ship was ready.

“The explanation given by the contractor and Mindef (the Defence Ministry) was that the ceremony was actually to launch (the ship) into the water for a balance test, to see whether it was okay.

“Then (after the ceremony) the ship was returned to the dockyard to continue construction.

“The launching and naming ceremony is apparently a tradition practised by Mindef,” he said, adding that the PAC raised a question about the launch ceremony as the impression given was that the vessel was already completed.

In August 2017, the ship was named Kapal Diraja Maharaja Lela during its launch at the Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) wharf at the RMN Lumut Naval Base in Perak.

The naming and launch ceremony for the ship, valued at RM1.5 billion, was graced by Perak Sultanah Tuanku Zara Salim and witnessed by Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.

It was the first of the six LCSs worth RM9 billion built by BNS to be launched into the waters.

Last week, the Public Accounts Committee released its report on the Defence Ministry’s purchase of LCSs from Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) Sdn Bhd through direct negotiations.

Although the government has already paid RM6.08 billion for the cost of the project, none of the ships have been delivered.

According to the original schedule, five LCSs should have been delivered to the ministry by this month. – August 10, 2022.