By Sangeeta Saxena

On Board KD Perantau. Somewhere in the Andaman Sea. 23 March,2017. It was indeed an International Fleet Review at Langkawi in the waters of the Andaman Sea when naval ships from across the globe stood in columns to salute the Malaysian Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein, Chief of Malaysian Navy Admiral Kamarul and the guests aboard the Malaysian ship KD Perantau.

There were sixty two total participating maritime assets including forty Capital Ships, seven small crafts, one sea plane and four Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV).  Of these sixteen naval warships from abroad sailed in the Malaysian waters for the review.

But the one which attracted the maximum attention was not a ship but the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) second Scorpene submarine, KD Tun Razak, which was docked at the Resort World Langkawi with the KD

The Malaysian ships which took part in the fleet review are listed below.

  1. KD SRI INDERASAKTI Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  2. KD JEBAT Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  3. KD KASTURI Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  4. KD LEKIR Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  5. KD SELANGOR Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  6. KD PERANTAU Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  7. KD MUTIARA Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  8. KD LAKS TUN ABDUL JAMIL Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  9. KD LAKS HANG NADIM Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  10. KD PERDANA Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  11. KD GEMPITA Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  12. KD KINABALU Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  13. KD MAHAMIRU Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  14. KLD TUNAS SAMUDERA Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  15. GAGAH SAMUDERA Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  16. MV MEGA BAKTI Royal Malaysian Navy 1
  17. KM MARLIN Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  18. KM PERWIRA Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  19. KM BAGAN DATUK Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  20. KM PEKAN Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  21. KM SUGUT Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  22. PT 2 Royal Malaysian Police 1
  23. MV PEDOMAN Malaysian Marine Department 1
  24. MV SUHAIL Malaysian Marine Department 1
  25. RV DISCOVERY Universiti Malaysia Terenggganu1

The foreign ships which participated in the show are listed below.

  1. ITS CARABINIERE Italian Navy 1
  2. JS TERUZUKI Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force 1
  3. INS KORA Indian Navy 1
  4. PNS SAIF Pakistan Navy 1
  5. PNS NASR Pakistan Navy 1
  6. HMAS LAUNCHESTON Royal Australian Navy 1
  7. RSS TENACIOUS Republic of Singapore Navy 1
  8. HTMS PHUKET Royal Thai Navy 1
  9. SLNS SAYURA Sri Lanka Navy 1
  10. USS CORONADO United States Navy 1
  11. DINH THIEN HONG Vietnam People`s Navy 1
  12. KRI BANJARMASIN Indonesian Navy 1
  13. KRI HALASAN Indonesian Navy 1
  14. BRP ANDRES BONAFICIO Philippine Navy 1

Small Crafts participating in the show are

  1. CB 90 Royal Malaysian Navy 2
  2. PENGGALANG Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 4
  3. PENYELAMAT Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  4. PERENTAS Royal Malaysian Customs 2
  5. PENUMPAS Royal Malaysian Customs 4
  6. PERONDA LAJU Malaysian Fisheries Department 2
  7. CJ66 FAST INTERCEPTOR CRAFT Muhibbah Engineering 1

The one and only submarine in the fleet was               

  1.  KD TUN RAZAK Royal Malaysian Navy 1

 Sea Plane which participated in the show was

  1. AIRFISH 8 WIGETWORKS SINGAPORE 1

AUV/UAV/SUV also formed a major part of the display. They were

  1. FULMAR (UAV) Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 1
  2. ACS 30 (UAV) Skyeton Aircraft (Ficantech) 1
  3. TELEDYNE (AUV) MAST 1
  4. SEA WASP (ROV) SAAB 1

All these maritime assets were stationed in columns and saluted the VIP ship as it passed each of them. Malaysia’s strategic importance in the region as a ASEAN nation and it’s defence forces on an expansion drive make it a great market and a major ally for all powers that be. The participation of the ships from global navies  at LIMA 2017  is proof enough.