Queen launches RMN ship in Turkey

 The navy's littoral mission ship has been named Tunku Laksamana Abdul Jalil.

The Raja Permaisuri Agong, Raja Zarith Sofiah, at the launching of the ship in Istanbul, Turkey, today. (Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Malaysia marked a historic milestone in strengthening its maritime defence capabilities with the naming and launching ceremony of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s first littoral mission ship (batch 2) at a shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey, today.

The ceremony was graced by the queen, Raja Zarith Sofiah.

Also present were her children, Tunku Temenggong of Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Panglima of Johor Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Tunku Putera of Johor Tunku Abu Bakar, Bernama reported.

The ship was named Tunku Laksamana Abdul Jalil, to honour the king’s late son, Tunku Abdul Jalil.

Zamzam water kept in a jar was used in the blessing ceremony, accompanied by a surah Yasin recitation.

The naming and launching ceremony is a long-standing naval tradition dating back to the establishment of the navy, serving as the formal identification of a vessel before it is commissioned into the navy’s service.

Among those present were defence minister Khaled Nordin and Turkey’s deputy national defence minister, Musa Heybet.

The Tunku-class vessel, based on the Ada-class corvette design by Turkish defence company Savunma Teknolojileri Muhendislik (STM), measures 99.56m in length and 14.42m in width.

It was reported that Malaysia is acquiring three such corvettes from STM. These combat ships will have a maximum speed of over 26 knots and have a range of nearly 4,000 nautical miles. - FMT