Malaysia starts evaluation of offers for Littoral Missions Ship Batch 2

An offshore patrol vessel design from German shipbuilder Fassmer. Photo c/o Fassmer.

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has started evaluating offers for its planned acquisition of a second batch of Littoral Mission Ship (LMS).

British defense media outlet Jane’s confirmed from their sources that the RMN has received 5 offers, which includes Germany’s Fassmer, American shipbuilder Swiftships, Dutch shipbuilder Damen, a joint venture between Malaysian company Destini and Damen, and another Malaysian company Preston. 
Fassmer offered a 70.2-meter design, while Swiftships offered a 70.7-meter long, 11.3-meter wide patrol vessel design based on their current line-up that can be armed with a 40mm cannon. 

Preston offered a 70-meter patrol vessel design.

Damen reportedly offered the Stan Patrol 6811 design, which is an lengthened version of  their existing Stan Patrol 6211 large patrol boat. This is separate from an offer by the joint venture of Destini and Damen using an 83 meter patrol vessel similar to the offshore patrol vessel ordered by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). 

The RMN has awarded a contract to China Shipbuilder & Offshore International Co. Ltd. to build the first batch of four (4) Littoral Mission Ship based on a 68-metere design. The first ship, the KD Keris (111), was commissioned with the RMN on January 2020, while the second ship, Sundang (112) was launched in China on July 2019.

All 4 ships of the Keris-class are expected to be commissioned with the RMN by late 2021.

Under its 15-to-5 Transformation Program, the RMN plans to have 18 Littoral Mission Ship, although the decision to look for a new design for the second batch of LMS means the RMN itself is diverting from its original plan to only have 5 classes of ships in its inventory.


[1] Jane’s
[2] Malaysian Defence