WUHAN, Aug. 1 (ChinaMil) -- According to reports from Wuhan, construction of a littoral mission ship (LMS), the first of its kind that China will build for Malaysia, began at the Shuangliu base of Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd. (“Wuchang Shipbuilding”) under China Shipbuilding Industry Co. (CSIC) in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, on Tuesday.
He Jiwu, vice president of CSIC, said at the launching ceremony for construction that the Littoral Mission Ship Project is the first cooperation between China and Malaysia in the field of large military equipment and is a landmark project of great significance.
According to reports, contract of the Malaysian Littoral Mission Ship Project was signed on April 21, 2017. It is an important milestone for Chinese military trade enterprises to export large military equipment to Malaysia for the first time.
According to the project contract, China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co., Ltd. (CSOC) will design and build four littoral mission ships for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to perform various tasks such as patrol, anti-terrorism, search and rescue, and fishery protection missions.
This type of littoral mission ship was designed by the 701 Research Institute of CSIC. Wuchang Shipbuilding will be responsible for the construction of the first and second ships; and the third and fourth ships will be jointly built by Wuchang Shipbuilding and Malaysia’s local shipbuilding company Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNSSB).
Also, the RMN Chief Admiral Ahmad Kamarulzaman Badaruddin said that Malaysia is very appreciative of the strong strength of CSIC in the field of naval equipment and believes that the Littoral Mission Ship Project will be a complete success.