“Let go head rope!” sounds the XO from the Motorola G328 walkie talkie. With that command, I told the guys at KD MUTIARA to cast off our final line from their ship. We are set for Djibouti, a place where I never been before, not only me but including all of the crew of this ship. Before this KD SRI INDERAPURA , KD LEKIU,KD MAHAWANGSA and some other ships were there for OP FAJAR or better known to be an anti piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The operation start off when few of the Malaysian merchant vessels were hijacked by the Somali pirates operating mainly in the Gulf of Aden. Anyway, our mission is not about anti-piracy operation or peacekeeping, we were set to sail to Djibouti to escort Malaysian first ever submarine back home, KD TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN , the scorpene class submarine that was built in France. This is a different mission and KD LEKIR is the first ship in the RMN to have the honor to escort and ensure the safe arrival of the subs back to Malaysia in one piece. My feelings are mixed, a part of me felt that I will be very busy dealing with duties, taking sight and also seasick, well that part is obviously the negative part but on the other hand, I always keep one thing in my mind, the phrase that always keeps me going when I’m onboard this 26 years old ship, ”where ever she go, I’ll go”, that is what I keep in my mind since the first day I join the ship. Well, warship is not meant to be in harbour, she is suppose to be at sea, same goes to naval officers. I was not train to look after some PLKN trainees, my job is fight war and drive ships at sea. In short term, the sea is a better “playground” for me. Maybe Djibouti, Maldives and Cochin are not that bad after all. I will find out about that when I arrive there.
I was on duty that first night from 12 to 4 when we pass Nicobar Island. The sea was still very calm with winds up to 14 knots. If the situation remains the same tomorrow and the day after, maybe I don’t have to worry about seasick or having myself flat on my bunk for the rest of the trip, hopefully. I woke up the next morning for the afternoon watch and felt that my hope last night is completely wiped off when the ships starts to roll up to 25 degrees to port and starboard. I try to get myself together and climb up to the bridge. I take first glance at the sea and only one word is in my head at the moment, vertigo. Vertigo or better known to sailors as seasick is a condition where you felt that everything around you is unstable and when that occurs, the brain will start to “malfunction” which will cause a very unpleasant feeling. The journey to Male, Maldives the first port that we will be arriving took about 6 days and for the whole 6 days I was like a walking dead.
We arrived in Male at about 1600 local time and the ship is schedule to be at anchor for two days at Male. We anchored near to the one and only city of Maldive, which is also the capital for the country, Male. After finishing all the anchor works, me and my boys down at the forecastle take the opportunity to take some pictures of the island. From the ship, Male looks like a very interesting place.
The next day, me and some of shipmates went out to seek what is out there install for us in Male. The first liberty boat departs and it takes about 10 minutes to arrive at the jetty. We went around and the shops and some other interesting places like the artificial beach that was built on the western part of the island. The scenery around the island is very nice. Male is a quite small island with the main population is muslims. It took us about only one a half hour to walk around the whole island. I bought some souvenirs for my love ones back home but most of the shops were closed because Maldives is celebrating their independence day that day. It is very interesting how things work around here because I can’t really see any houses around the island but there are so many people around. After a while I came to realize that they live either on the other island which scattered around Male or on the same building with the shops. Although there are not a well develop country, but the people is very friendly. After finishing my tour around Male, we head back to the ship at around 1600 local time.
The anchor is weighed at 1000 local time. One last souvenir that I had from Male is a small coral reef stuck at the anchor cable. It was very beautiful and I planned to keep it as my memory from the bottom of the sea of Male. We depart from Male and set sail for the next port which is Djibouti where we will rendezvous with the KD TAR. The journey to Djibouti took about 7 days across the Arabian ocean where the sea state is quite similar to the Bay of Bengal. Once we pass the Suqutra island into the Gulf of Aden, the sea state is much better but the air around the gulf is much warmer. In order to be safe, few men were stationed around the ships with rifles. We arrived safely in Djibouti and were tied up alongside at approximately 2200 local time. Looking at my first sight on Djibouti only one word keeps spinning in my mind, hot. The next day, we had an early morning activities as per directed by the CO in every port. The activities were conducted by the XO and the coxswain. After having that, we continue with the normal work routine which is mainly cleaning the ships and fixing the part that was broken during sailing. A part from that, KD TAR is also alongside at the same port and the whole crew of KD LEKIR is given the opportunity to visit the sub. Shore leaves commence on 1700 local time every day. This is because most of the shops in Djibouti only open at night maybe because of the temperature that is very hot during the day. Most of the souvenirs that were sold here are made out of rock and the prices vary according to sizes and shapes. I bought some plates and a chess set that was made out of rock. The price for me was acceptable. In the middle of the city, you can see a lot of children and women begging for food and money. Few of my mates that were here earlier because of OP FAJAR had warned me about this and they told me not to give them any because if you start giving, more will come. Poverty is a major issue around Djibouti.
We depart from Djibouti at around 0900 local time at start making way to next port which is Cochin, India. With the speed restricted mainly to 7 or 8 knots, it will took us 12 days to reach Cochin. This is the longest journey for the whole trip. My endurance will be tested to the maximum and I’m hoping that for the next 12 days, the wind will be fair and the sea will be following us or else I will end up flat on my bunk again. With the south west monsoon is nearly over the wave and wind mainly is coming from the stern and this is a good news. Although the waves reaches up to 5 to 6 metres in the Arabian sea, with it coming from the stern given me a much better relief and I’m proud to say that I’m fine for the second half of the trip. In the Arabian sea, we have to maintain the distance between us and the submarine moving heaven in order to ensure that we have a rough idea where they will be when they dive. At first it was quite hard to understand it but after quite a while we manage to cope with it. We had two CASEX serials during the trip to Cochin. The first one is the basic tracking serials and the second one is mutual sensors. It was very beneficial because I was never involved in any serial with submarine before and it gave a rough idea how they are carried out.
We finally arrived in cochin on 18th August at approximately 1000 local time. We were welcome by the officers from the Indian Navy which is the gunnery officer of INS KRISHNA and we were informed that INS KRISHNA will be hosting us for the duration of our stay in Cochin. That evening, a football match between KD LKIR and Indian Navy was held at the Indian Naval Base. Maybe because of lack of stamina or exhausted we lost 4-0,but I think we put up a good fight and if given some time to recover from our seasick, we can level the score. The next day, after having EMA, a visits to various training facility of the Indian Navy were arranged. It is quite interesting because from what we can see at the training facility, India is a well ahead of us and no wonder there are few officers that was sent here. That night, a reception was held onboard KD LEKIR, and I was tasked to handle the montage. The next day, after finishing our jobs, we were granted shore leaves but for the officers, we have to get back early because another reception will be held onboard INS KRISHNA. I spent the two hours around the town and bought 4 sarees for my loved one back home. The reception onboard INS KRISHNA started at around 2030 local time. There are various Indians cuisine that was served that night. The best one is of course the curry. I ate a lot that night because tomorrow morning, we will set to sail again.
The next morning, KD LEKIR departed from Cochin at around 0900 local time and today is the first day of Ramadhan and all of the Muslim crew was fasting. We were escorted by the Indian Navy Ship on the way out. The journey back home will took us about 11 days across the Bay of Bengal again. With the wind and waves from the stern, I am very pleased with the condition. Again with the main priority of ensuring the subs arrived home safely, KD LEKIR continues to become the “guardian” for KD TAR. There are no major issues during the passage and we manage to guard her until we reach South East Point.
Next, KD TAR was hand over to KD LAKSAMANA HANG NADIM for the next tasking and for KD LEKIR and her crew, it is time for us to call it a day. We are coming home. The past 45 days was an experience that will be in our heart forever. Maybe one day when I am old, I can tell my grandchildren that their grandfather is not the hero during war but he worked with the company of heroes that crossed the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian ocean with the speed as slow as 6 knots and bring back Malaysia’s very first submarine home.
“No guts, no glory”
S/Lt. Mohamad Zulkhairi Bin Mhd Yusoff
Assistant Gunnery Officer,
KD LEKIR
