According to information published by the Royal Malaysian Navy on December 18, 2021, the Navy received the fourth Keris-class littoral mission ship KD Rencong built by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.
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Keris-class littoral mission ship KD Rencong (Picture source: Royal Malaysian Navy)
She was built for the Royal Malaysian Navy by China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Co. Ltd at Wucang Port, Qidong, Shanghai, in China. Rencong will be in service with the 11th LMS Squadron based in Sepanggar, Sabah.
The Keris-class are a class of large patrol vessels (Littoral Mission Ship) of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with a length of 69 metres (226 ft 5 in) and displacing 700 tons. A total of 18 ships are planned. As of 2018, four ships have been funded by the Malaysian government.
The ships able to carry up three standard ISO containers. The ships will support missions including anti-surface warfare, mine warfare, hydrography and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) duties.
The propulsion of Keris-class includes two MTU 4000 engines powered by two fixed pitch propellers. The ship is also equipped with three diesel generators and a single emergency diesel generator.
The ship can reach a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), a cruising range of 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), and an endurance of 15 days.
The LMS Keris-class is armed with one Chinese-made H/PJ-17 30mm single barrel gun mounted on a remote weapon station and two 12.7mm heavy machine guns.
