A 45-year-old fast attack ship of the Malaysian navy sank after it struck an unknown underwater object on the eastern coast of Johor state. All 39 crew members were evacuated safely, with no injuries.
According to media reports, Malaysian authorities were working on Monday to salvage the ship that sank due to a leak believed to be caused by hitting an underwater object. The crew could not fix the hole and the 260-ton ship sank underwater.
According to a statement by the Malaysian navy, the leak was first detected in the engine room of the K.D. Pendekar on Sunday. The vessel was soon flooded.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the incident.
In the wake of the incident, Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin ordered an inspection of navy vessels over 40 years old, which make up at least a third of the Malaysian navy's fleet. “We do not deny that (some of) our ships are old but that is not likely to be one of the causes ... and the important thing is that thankfully no lives were lost,” Khaled was quoted as saying by the Malay-language Harian Metro newspaper.
The Pendekar, built by Karlskrona Varvet Shipyard in Sweden, was commissioned into the Malaysian fleet in 1979.
Khaled said a fleet modernisation is ongoing, involving the construction of littoral combat ships with the first due to be commissioned in 2026.
Littoral combat ships are small surface vessels designed for near-shore operations.
—With agency inputs