Malaysia’s MoD press release
The government agreed to resume the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) capable Second Generation Patrol Vessel (SGPV) procurement project for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN). Today, the government through the Ministry of Defence and Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn. Bhd. (BNSSB) sealed the Additional Sixth Contract Agreement.
As a result of this development, the Ministry of Defence, RMN and BNSSB will work together and give their utmost attention in moving forward to ensure the LCS project is finalised. The procurement is crucial to enhance the fleet’s capabilities to be aligned with the RMN15to5 Transformation Plan to preserve the sovereignty of the nation’s waters.
The implementation of this LCS project will be overseen by the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) which is jointly chaired by the Secretary General of Treasury and Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, along with scheduled reports and presentations to the Cabinet.
The additional agreement signing ceremony was witnessed by the Minister of Defence; YB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Deputy Minister Of Defence; YB Adly bin Zahari, Chief of Defence Force; General Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Haji Affendi bin Buang RMAF and Chief of Navy; Admiral Datuk Abdul Rahman bin Ayob. Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence; Dato’ Sri Muez bin Abd Aziz represented the Malaysian government for the document signing, while Chief Executive Officer of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and Chief Executive Officer of BNSSB; Dato’ Ahmad Nazim bin Abd Rahman represented BNSSB.
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Boustead press release
PETALING JAYA/ LANGKAWI, May 26, 2023 – Boustead Holding Berhad (BHB) would like to thank the Government, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and the Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) for their active role in securing the future of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) Project. Subsidiary of BHB, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) and the Government today signed the Sixth Supplemental Contract which details out amongst others – project deliverables and governance.
Commenting on the agreement, BHB Chairman Dato’ Nazim Rahman said this agreement resulted from the thorough review of multiple options and all aspects of the project by various ministries and agencies under the Government and BNS, with a sole aim of reviving the LCS Project in line with The Armada Transformation 15 to 5 Plan by the RMN.
“Under this new agreement, various preventative measures have been put in place to ensure that the ships will be delivered on time and within the allocated budget. This includes the formation of Project Monitoring Committee, co-chaired by the Secretary General of Treasury and Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, to strengthen the execution and supervision of the project delivery hence ensuring the failures of the past does not happen again”.
Citing his confidence in BNS’s ability to complete the project, he added “In the past few years since the project was put on hold, the governance within BNS has been improved significantly. The new management that has been put in place, not just at BNS, but also at Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Berhad (BHIC), BHB as well as LTAT has allowed the company and its shareholders to take an objective assessment of the project and the best way forward to complete the delivery of the ships”.
The Supplemental Contract was signed by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, Dato’ Sri Muez bin Abd Aziz and Chairman of BNS, Dato’ Nazim Rahman, witnessed by the Minister of Defence, YB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan.
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Naval News comments:
The first in-class-ship Maharaja Lela was ceremonially launched in August 2017 but the program has faced delays since. Six vessels were ordered and five were initially expected to be delivered by August last year, but not a single one is in the water. According to the new schedule, the first ship is now set to be delivered in August 2026. Here is a picture of the Maharaja Lela in November 2021:
The Maharaja Lela-class frigates (also known as Second Generation Patrol Vessel – SGPV) are an enlarged version of the Gowind type corvette by Naval Group. After Malaysia (the first customer), the Gowind design has been selected by Egypt, the UAE and Romania. There discussions with Greece for this design as well.