The Malaysian government set up the base on Middle Rocks, and it will be jointly used by the marine department, armed forces, police and even fishermen, Channel NewsAsia reported.
The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar officially opened the base, which is named Abu Bakar Maritime Base, on Aug 1.
The Johor Sultan also wrote about the opening, giving some details on the base in his Facebook page.
“The facility was completed almost a year ago, on Aug 29, 2016, and comprises two distinct buildings 316.6 metres apart,” he said.
“The project, under the National Security Council, is aimed at safeguarding Malaysia’s sovereign territory and waters and for conducting marine scientific research,” the Johor Sultan wrote.
The Sultan added that it was also meant to reaffirm Malaysia’s absolute sovereignty over Middle Rocks off Kota Tinggi, Johor.
The base includes a 316-metre jetty, a lighthouse, and a helicopter landing pad, according to defence magazine IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly.
The base on Middle Rocks is about 7.9 nautical miles from the Johor coast and 0.6 nautical miles from Pedra Branca.
Middle Rocks, Pedra Branca and South Ledge were part of a long-standing dispute between the Malaysian and Singapore governments on the issue of ownership.
Eventually, in 2008, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided to hand over Pedra Branca to Singapore, while Middle Rocks was given to Malaysia. However, South Ledge was ruled by the ICJ as belonging to the state in whose territorial waters it is located.
Meanwhile, the maritime base launch also comes just over a month after Malaysia had filed an application requesting for a reinterpretation of ICJ’s judgment over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca.
According to CNA, Malaysia’s latest application was “separate and autonomous” from another application in February seeking revision of the ICJ judgment.