T

he Indonesian Navy'€™s Col. Yayan Sofiyan could not hide his sense of pride as he was entrusted by the government to bring home a newly built British-made light frigate, the KRI Bung Tomo.

Together with 87 crew members, consisting of enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, as well as five ship'€™s technicians from the UK, Yayan successfully berthed the 2,300-ton Bung Tomo at Belawan Port, Medan, North Sumatra, on Monday at 12 p.m.

'€œI'€™m proud to have been given the mandate to bring the ship successfully and safely home,'€ the captain said after docking at the Belawan Port.

The Bung Tomo arrived at the port after a 9,740-nautical-mile journey from the UK.

The arrival of the latest British-made warship of the Multi Role Light Frigate (MRLF) class was greeted by the Indonesian Navy'€™s Belawan Main Naval Base (Lantamal) commander, Commodore Pulung Prambudi.

Yayan said the warship, designated number 357 on its hull, was one of three warships ordered from the UK that were on their way to Indonesia. The other two were the KRI John Lie 358 and the KRI Usman Harun 359. He estimated both vessels would arrive in Indonesia on Sept. 20.

Yayan said he and his crew had some memorable experiences during the voyage that took 42 days to complete. He said that during the trip, they stopped over in many countries, such as Spain and Italy.

Yayan said while they were in Italy all the Christian crew members performed a religious pilgrimage to the Vatican and, when the vessel arrived in Jeddah, all the Muslim crew members performed the umrah (minor pilgrimage).

He said apart from the opportunities to perform the pilgrimages, the Bung Tomo was also involved in a series of war exercises off Lebanon, Oman and Jeddah together with warships from several countries, like the United States, Canada and Japan.

'€œSo, before arriving in Belawan Port, the vessel had carried out war exercises with a number of countries,'€ Yayan said proudly.

He said the Bung Tomo was equipped with four engines making it capable of a top speed of 31 knots and it was fitted with advanced navigation and communication systems. Its armaments included its main 76-millimeter (mm) howitzer, a 30-mm anti-aircraft gun, anti-submarine torpedoes, surface to air missiles and Exocet anti-ship missiles.

Commodore Pulung said his naval base was honored to be picked as the Bung Tomo'€™s first port of call in Indonesia.

Pulung said the Bung Tomo was in Belawan Port for a day, during which time it hosted a cocktail party on its deck, with invited guests being a number of officials and members of maritime institutions in North Sumatra.

'€œOn Tuesday, the KRI Bung Tomo sailed to Jakarta and later to Surabaya [in East Java],'€ he said.