KUALA LUMPUR: The KD Pendekar is the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) fast attack craft, aptly named for its exceptional firepower and agile design of its time.
Constructed by Karlskrona Varvet Shipyard in Sweden, this vessel was launched on November 11, 1978, and commissioned into the RMN fleet on July 27, 1979.
Initially, KD Pendekar was assigned to the Second Squadron of Fast Attack Craft (Missile) before being integrated into the First Squadron of Fast Attack Craft under the Patrol Flotilla.
Bearing the pennant number 3513, the vessel measures 43.62 metres in length and 7.1 metres in width, with a displacement of 2,600 tonnes and operational endurance of up to seven days.
The KD Pendekar's primary armament includes the Bofors 57mm gun and the Bofors 40mm/70 gun, providing versatile firepower against both sea and air targets.
Currently, the KD Pendekar is under the command of Lieutenant Commander Izzat Emir Md Rahim.
Despite its age, the 45-year-old ship manned by a dedicated crew of 40 had seen a lot of action by participating in various maritime operations and search-and-rescue missions.
Last year in May, KD Pendekar was part of an operation looking for the three missing crewmen of MT Pablo, which caught on fire at the Tanjung Sedili waters in Kota Tinggi, Johor.
KD Pendekar and Malaysian Marine Department's MV Polaris assisted in the mission by spraying water on the stricken vessel's hull to cool it down as rescuers worked in the ship to save the crew.
In October 2022, the RMN detained a Vietnamese fishing boat 30 nautical miles north of Pulau Tioman, along with 14 crew members for encroaching on Malaysian waters.
The KD Pendekar detected six Vietnamese fishing boats in the area during a patrol, but was only able to apprehend the nearest boat, while the other five managed to escape.
It was found that 14 Vietnamese crew members, including the captain, did not possess a fishing permit. Eight storage boxes filled with marine catch, estimated to be worth RM1.5 million, were found in the boat.
In 2017, KD Pendekar joined a mission to search for RMN's first fast-attack craft KD Perdana, which went missing while on routine patrol off Sedili, Johor, in May that year.
The missing vessel was crewed by one officer and eight personnel of other ranks, who were conducting an operation against illegal foreign fishermen when their vessel suffered a communication breakdown.
In June 2015, KD Pendekar was one of the three vessels besides KD Terengganu and KD Ganyang searching for an oil tanker that went missing 30 nautical miles east of Tanjung Sedili, Kota Tinggi in Johor.
The vessels were attempting to locate the MT Orkim Harmony, which was laden with 6,000 metric tonnes of petrol at the time of its disappearance.
A few days later, the tanker was discovered to have been hijacked by pirates. It was eventually rescued with its crew near Vietnam.
The pirates managed to escape, but their freedom was short-lived as they were soon apprehended by Vietnamese authorities and deported to Malaysia to face justice.