For the Malaysians in the peninsular at least, Lumut would be THE Navy town where the premier
Royal
Malaysian Navy base is located. Thus many would not be aware that
Sepanggar Bay at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah would become another premier
naval base where the Command Naval Area 2 or COMNAV 2 is located after
being transferred from KD Sri Labuan. This is where our submarines will
be based and under COMNAV 3 also there are many units that you can read
all about at the COMNAV2 website, though currently on
ly
available in English, including the Kuching Representative Naval Office
(RNO/PWTL) and KD Sri Rejang in Sibu. This post however would
concentrate on an isolated area of operations for the RMN, that is the
naval stations in the Gugusan Semarang Peninjau that after the
declaration of the Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) on 20 September 1979,
have become outposts to validate Malaysia’s claims to the areas under
the EEZ that are at least 156 nautical miles away from Kota Kinabalu.
Comprising five stations originally built on outlaying atolls, with the most developed now expanded to a full fled
ged
island that is now a popular diving spot in the region. This is in
contrast from the origins of Layang-Layang Island when the island
started to receive its first human population three years after a claim
plaque was erected on the coral atoll it was at the time on 21 June
1980, when eighteen hardy Paskal men went ashore on May 1983 to build
the first encampment while braving the elements. This place is called
Wisma Kaki Langit because at the time the only infrastructure available
was a helipad for personnel transfer and the soldiers had to camp under
th
e
open skies on the bare reef. When the naval station proper was
constructed six years later with the construction of a small
living-cum-operations quarters, it was also decided that the enlarged
island the atoll has become will also be developed as a tourist
attraction so that the tourism potential of the island can be exploited.
Thus by 1995, 
more
buildings were added, including two air-conditioned accommodation
blocks, an aircraft landing strip, which can be used by Hercules C-130
and CN235 aircraft, two hangars, a radar station, an air traffic control
tower, watchtowers and a jetty has made the island a proper island
station code named Station Lima for the naval men stationed there to
safeguard our nation’s claim to the area. Patrols by navy soldiers in
CB90H attack vessels and larger, faster patrol boats are carried out
around the island. Several anti-ship and anti-aircraft guns are placed
on several areas on the island and the RMAF personnel operate a
Starburst air defence system to prevent low-level air attacks here.
Ubi
Reef or Station Uniform was one of the stations which construction was
started in the mid-80s for the purpose of monitoring and protection the
territorial waters in international boundaries. It was built in early
1986 by Malaysian Shipping Engineering Corporation and in its early
stage, was only a module built on top of a barge measuring 60 metres
long and 30 metres wide anchored on top of Ubi Reef(Ardasier Reef) that
is 
supposed
to be the largest reef in Gugusan Semarang Peninjau. The station was
officialy opended on 16 April 1986 and is located 16 nautical miles to
the south west of Station Lima and 25 miles south of Station Mike. In
2000 the station was enlarged by filling in around the lagoon basin and a
channel was built for safe passage of the visiting navy CB90 Combat
Boat to enter and dock at the station. A beacon was also built about one
mile to the east of the station to mark guide the boats into the
lagoon. A buoy was also placed in the middle of the lagoon to assist in
the berthing of the boats. In general, Station Uniform assets has been
much enhanced to increase the operational readiness of the station.
The next reef to be populated was Station Mike or Mantanani Reef when a habitat module built by Malaysian
Shipping Engineering Corporation was anchored onto the reef in the
middle of September 1986 and was officially opened three months later.
The 44 metre long Station Mike is located about 35 nautical miles to the
north of Station Lima and is close to a Vietnamese settlement on
Amboyna Cay only 40 nautical miles away. On 18 May 1994, the area around
the islet was however declared a restricted area possibly due to its
close proximity to competing forces.
The
founding history of Station Sierra or Siput Reef started with the
construction on a barge type module at Jerjak Island by PSCND. The
module was specially designed originally as a floating vessel to
facilitate towing at sea before it is anchored at Siput Reef. The towing
was carried 
out
in April 1999 codenamed Ops Sri Petaling whereby the module was towed
under the element of disguise to avert notice by neighbouring countries
in an operation taking almost one month. The sailing and towing
operations was undertaken with several RMN ships in escort until
reaching the site and anchored about 16 nautical miles south west of
Station Mike. Location selection and module positioning was done during
high tide so that it can be more easily anchored during low tide and
after found satisfactory, the module was landed and filled in with
cement and rocks to strengthen its anchorage. These works were completed
in early May 1999 and officially named on 10 May 1999. In its early
operations, it was declared that the module was built for marine and
scientific research to reduce pressure and misunderstanding by claimant
nations. The station was further secured by the extension of Ops Sri
Petaling for monitoring and defense in order to safeguard the station
from any threats especially from nations objecting to Malaysia’s
settlement on the islet.
Similarly Station Papa was also constructed by PSCND that 
was
originally a module built on top of a large barge that was towed to its
current site in the same Ops Sri Petaling in early April 1999 before
being anchored in the middle of Peninjau reef and located 70 miles north
east of Station Lima. Work on anchoring the module on the largest reef
in amongst the station was completed and then officially opened on 10
May 1999. Station Papa was similarly declared as a maritime scientific
research station to reduce claimants’ pressure and similarly secured
like Station Sierra against any threats from competing claimants.The presence of soldiers on the islets demonstrates the sensitivity of the s
ituation
involving the overlapping claims on the many islands within the
Spratlys archipelago. Military personnel are needed to maintain
Malaysia’s control of the islets and also to protect the rich marine
life surrounding it. The islands are important strategic assets for the
country and were believed to contain natural resources such as oil,
phosphorous and natural gas. Meanwhile, the reefs are teeming with a
beautiful and diverse marine life such as corals and many types of fish,
which are great tourist at
tractions.
The soldiers are entrusted with the task of ensuring that only fishing
vessels with permits are allowed into the area and fishermen cannot
catch legally-protected fish. They also make patrols to prevent
intrusions by foreign fishing boats or other types of vessels into the
territorial waters. Men stationed at the five islets normally on a
three-month rotation monitor the movement of foreign ships and aircraft
in the area, including military submarines that constantly ply the South
China Sea and every incident of close encounters with foreign ships and
aircraft are logged although no incident or confrontation has been
officially reported. A trivia about these islets is that has been honored with a stamp series featuring
their ecological systems. Yet these offshore EEZ bases mark our
frontiers out in the South China Sea, unprotected from the vagrancies of
weather and atrocious sea conditions! Cold and distant these sovereign
territorial positions are guarded around the clock by RMN personnel,
whilst our citizens are safely tucked in the peace and security of their
homes.(Thanks to Sir Mumuchi, bloggers "A Secure Malaysia" for giving me this opportunity to republish his article from his blog....)
Original link : http://securemalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/05/royal-malaysian-navy-offshore-eez.html
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