NAVANTIA PROMISES LIFE-LONG SUPPORT FOR MALAYSIA'S SCORPENE SUBMARINE

From Abdul Muin Majid

CARTAGENA (Spain), Oct 9 (Bernama) -- Spanish shipbuilding firm Navantia has expressed its commitment to give lifelong support to Malaysia's second Scorpene submarine launched by Queen Tuanku Nur Zahirah.
This was stated by Navantia chairman Juan Pedro Gomez Jaen at the naming
and launch of the vessel graced by King Mizan Zainal Abidin and the Malaysian
queen at the Navantia shipyard Wednesday.

Tuanku Nur Zahirah named the vessel "Tun Razak", after Malaysia's
second
prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

"It's a great honour for us to have the queen as the godmother of the
submarine. Your Majesty have our commitment to support this Royal Malaysian
Navy (RMN)'s submarine during the lifecycle of the ship," said Gomez Jaen.

He thanked Malaysia's Defence Ministry and the Malaysian government for
their confidence in the submarine project undertaken by Navantia and its French
partner, DCNS.

Malaysia ordered two Scorpene submarines in a RM3.4 billion deal signed in
2002.

"And six years later, we're very proud of the ceremony we're witnessing
today, another significant milestone in the successful fulfilment of the
contract," he said.

According to him, both DCNS and Navantia had invested the best of their
technology in this important project of manufacturing the most up-to-date
conventional submarines in the world.

Gomez Jaen also commended RMN's submarine project team members for their
unrelenting effort and professionalism over the years.

Malaysia's first Scorpene submarine named "Tunku Abdul Rahman" was launched
at the DCNS dockyard in Cherbourg, France, in October 2007.