
The navy said in a statement today that all its personnel were safe and unaffected by the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, which began in Wuhan in central China.
It said 12 navy officers and personnel were responsible for monitoring the construction of RMN’s four LMS in Wuhan, under a 2017 contract between the Malaysian government and Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.
The navy had also sent 45 personnel on Nov 5 to Qidong, Shanghai, for familiarisation training before taking delivery of RMN’s second LMS ship, named Sundang, in mid-April 2020.
It said 42 members of the team had returned to Malaysia for the Chinese New Year holidays while the other 15 are still in Qidong on the eastern coast, about 860km from Wuhan.
The first LMS, named Keris, was handed over to the defence ministry at Wucang port in Qidong on Dec 31.