CONTRAVES Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD) and Contraves Electrodynamics Sdn Bhd (CED),  the main contractors in the troubled navy littoral combat ship programme, have had their letters of award voided, The Star reported.

Boustead Heavy Industries Bhd (BHIC), in a bourse filing yesterdsy, stated it had in a notice dated August 23, notified the two companies that the letters issued by its unit Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) were void.

BHIC was awarded a RM9 billion contract to build six littoral combat ships (LCS) for the the Defence Ministry in December 2011 but the contract was only signed three years later in July 2014.

The government had disbursed nearly RM6 billion to BNS. Not a single ship has been delivered.

In the filing, BHIC stated its board is currently engaging professional advisers to “assess available recourse in resolving this matter, following the receipt of the notice”.

It added the financial, legal and operational impact cannot be ascertained yet.

“The company will continue to engage all relevant stakeholders to give its full cooperation in ensuring that the progress of the LCS programme will not be impacted, in the best interest of national security,” it added.

CAD’s core expertise is the manufacturing of electronic products, and maintenance of military and defence equipment.

The principal activity of CED, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CAD, is to provide and undertake system design, infrastructure and facilities, project management, and integration works and services for the defence, commercial and industrial sectors. – September 3 , 2022.