Showing posts with label Sepanggar Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sepanggar Bay. Show all posts

Friday, April 5, 2013

Sepanggar Bay naval base open day

So, all this while you've been looking down at the naval base from afar and wondering how would it feel to be on board a warship.

Your wait is over. This weekend you have the opportunity to visit one of the regional naval bases which would be open to the public for 3 days. The timing is right, as I believe the patriotic spirit among the people should be at its peak now considering the terrorist intrusion in Lahad Datu.

The announcement via RTM (Sabah FM) in brief:

Event                  : RMN Open Day
Date                    : 5th - 7th April 2013
Venue                 : Royal Malaysian Navy, RMN base in Sepanggar Bay

How to get there:
Free transportation via shuttle bus from three collection points - 1Borneo, Centre Point Sabah, and Indah Permai.
Activities:
Attractive activities such as display of our navy assets, kayaking and many other engaging games.


The naval base seen during our previous working visit


Sepanggar Bay is the location of one of the major naval bases of Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), apart from the ones in Lumut Perak, Tanjung Gelang Pahang, Langkawi Kedah, Tanjung Pengelih Johor, to name a few.


"This is how it works," an officer explaining the mechanism on board KD Kedah


As at end-2012, there are 6 vessels and 12 boats, including two submarines, that are operating at the naval base at Sepanggar Bay. Four of the vessels are on round-the-clock patrols of the coastal waters at any one time.

View from KD Kedah

Note: The prefix KD means Kapal Diraja, or Royal Ship.


Of interest would be the two Scorpene submarines, named after the country’s first and second prime ministers – KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak. The subs arrived in Sabah on September 17, 2009 and July 16, 2010, respectively. I do not have a pic of them during the visit as they were off limit.

Hopefully they will show these expensive divers this time around and make us proud.