KUALA LUMPUR: A Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN)
vessel, in pursuit of a foreign ship encroaching on waters off
Pulau Layang Layang on Thursday, was forced to abandon its
operation after its engine room was flooded.
RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the crew of the
Fast Attack Craft-Gun (FAC-G) vessel KD Pari heard a 'loud bang'
soon after it had departed the island westward to pursue a
China-flagged vessel, believed to be a frigate, spotted at
Gugusan Semarang Peninjau in the South China Sea at 2.53pm.
"Initial investigations revealed that the KD Pari sustained a
dislodged shaft, which connects the propeller to the engine, and
the vessel turned back to its base.
"The professional action of KD Pari's 36 crew members, under the
command of Lt-Cdr Abdul Hadi Abdul Malik, managed to steer the
stricken vessel towards Pulau Layang Layang's jetty where it became
partially submerged four hours later.
"After attempts by the crew to siphon out the fast in-flowing
water with portable pumps failed, divers were called in to first
seal the huge hole at the stern tube before using air-fillled
'lifting bags' to float the vessel."
He added a second RMN ship, the new-generation patrol vessel KD
Pahang was immediately summoned to pursue the China-flagged
ship and managed to "shoo it away" after efforts to
communicate with it failed.
"A board of inquiry has been established to investigate the
incident and assess the damage to KD Pari."
Damage to KD Pari, which reportedly underwent refurbishment in 2009
to the tune of RM12 million, is believed to be in the tens of
millions of ringgit.
The assistance of the Royal Malaysian Air Force was also sought to
despatch a CN-235 maritime patrol craft from Kota Kinabalu and a
C-130 Hercules from Subang to Pulau Layang Layang to ferry
additional technical crew and equipment to salvage KD Pari.
KD Pari, pennant number 3510, was built by Hong Leong-Lurssen at
its Butterworth shipyard and commissioned on March 23, 1977.
It weighs 244 tonnes, is 44.9m x 7m x 2.5m, can sail at 32 knots
and is manned by 36 crew members
The RMN also confirmed that another FAC-G vessel, KD Serang,
sustained a small fire from a short-circuit on Aug 31 while
minesweeper KD Todak was 'grounded' after a slight mishap with a
floating object two months earlier.
