KUALA LUMPUR: Completion of the first ship under the littoral combat ship (LCS) project might face several months of delay, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
He said that the takeover of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNSSB) by the Finance Ministry was only completed at the end of last month.
Commenting on the recent declassified Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on its progress, he said that early works will begin by this week.
"So it will be about a three-to-four-month delay.
"It should be May 2026, but it is now delayed to Sept or Oct of the same year, with a delay in the agreement," he said in a press conference today.
He said that the construction is done one ship at a time and the final one will be completed in the year 2029.
Once the first ship is completed, he said that it has to be taken from the dry dock to the harbour for four to five months of testing.
After that the ship will undergo an open sea test.
Once it's passed the tests and the Royal Malaysian Navy is satisfied with the output, only then will it be delivered, he added.
The LCS project is the largest acquisition in Mindef's history, with an overall value of RM9 billion.
The contract began in 2013 and was projected to end in 10 years.
The project came under scrutiny last year when the PAC said the government had paid RM6.083 billion to BNSSB, in a deal that was signed via direct negotiation, but not a single vessel had been delivered.
Based on the original schedule, five of the six LCS vessels should have been completed and handed over by Aug last year.
The cost of the project has ballooned to over RM11 billion and would only proceed with five ships.