Sepangar Bay to be strategic base
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysias new naval base at Sepangar Bay will
become a strategic regional base to accommodate not only
submarines but also cater for the needs of bigger class foreign
vessels, including aircraft carriers.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the base
would be fully operational in mid-2009 with the acquisition of the
French-made Scorpene submarines.
He said the RM1bil base, which also has a naval air station, had
been in operationsince Aug 31 last year, when the Labuan Region Two
Command headquarters from Sabah and Sarawak moved there.
So far, we have expended RM660mil and RM330mil more will be spent
to complete the entire base facilities, he said, adding that it
would be home to about 2,000 to 2,500 personnel once it was fully
operational.
This is our main and strategic base covering the South China Sea
and the Sulu Sea.
We are locating our main assets here, he said.
On the training of 145 Malaysian submariners in France, Najib said
it was progressing smoothly.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/12/nation/17993653&sec=nation
Malaysia really wanted to play host to foreign navies with carriers
or they have their own carrier ambition? The topic of having a
light aircraft carrier have frequently been brought up by Malaysian
military officers in the past.
