Malaysia’s first submarine arrived at Sepanggar Bay, the nation’s only submarine base at 9am today, after a 54-day, 8,000-mile journey from France, of which 32 days were underwater.

Among the 32-member crew [some reports say 35], there’s chief petty officer Jerry Koyoh, 34, a Dusun from Kampung Mandap, Kota Belud. He’s a safety diving officer: assists with the diving and stabilising of the sub, rotates shift with 2 other crew members every 4 hours.

There’s another Dusun, Luis from Kg Tombongon, Kiulu who’s a crew member of the second submarine, KD Tun Razak that’s due April 2010.

Submarines are no place for chubbies, if one is interested to be a crew, there’s a need to embark on a lose belly fat program first!

About the sub:

Cost: reputedly RM1.7 billion, hence 2 submarines = RM3.4 billion.
Cost of submarine base: RM320 million.
Class: Scorpene
Name: KD Tunku Abdul Rahman
Commanding Officer: Captain Zulhelmy Ithnain
Builders: French DCNS & Spanish Navantia
Place of assembly: Cherbourg, France.
Runs on: diesel-electric [i.e. not nuclear]
Length: 67.5m
Range: 45 days
Dive depth: up to 200m
Port calls before reaching Sabah: Jeddah, Djibouti, Cochin (India), Lumut, Port Klang

A video of the moment the sub arrived at Port Klang:

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