Construction of the navy's third area command headquarters in Tanjung Lembong here will be completed next April

The RM18-million structure is part of a two-phase project aimed at providing the navy with a permanent base to operate and patrol the northern sector, including the Indian Ocean.

The first phase, comprising the administration building, support facilities, bachelors? barracks and depot on an 18-hectare site, was initially due for completion in 2002, but was only 70 per cent complete when its original Kuala Lumpur-based contractor ran into problems.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, touring the site today, said the Government now had to spend RM12.8 million engaging another contractor, Langkawi- based Zaima Realty Sdn Bhd, to finish the job.

Upon its completion, he said, the base would offer support services to patrol teams currently based at the naval fleet operations command in Lumut.

abstracted from NST newspaper

Ships plying the Straits of Malacca have been alerted to check the water depth regularly because the channel may have been altered following the tsunami disaster on Dec 26. 

The sand waves created by the tsunami could have changed the water depth following seabed movement in some shallow areas of the 600-nautical-mile-long straits.  

In an advisory to mariners, Marshall Island marine authorities urged the shipping community to observe any depths that may have changed and to make the appropriate reports.