ISTANBUL: Malaysia marked a major milestone in strengthening its maritime defence capability with the naming and launching of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) first Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2) at a shipyard here today.

The ceremony was graced by Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia, and attended by attended by Tunku Temenggong of Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Panglima of Johor Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Ibrahim and Tunku Putera of Johor Tunku Abu Bakar Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Ibrahim.

The vessel was named Tunku Laksamana Abdul Jalil, with a traditional blessing involving zam zam water and surah Yasin recitation symbolically poured at the ship’s bow.

The naming and launching ceremony is a long-standing naval tradition marking the formal identification of a vessel before its commissioning into RMN service.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Turkish Deputy Minister of National Defence Musa Heybet, Malaysian Consul-General in Istanbul Ahmad Amiri Abu Bakar, Defence Ministry deputy secretary-general (Development) Datuk Abdul Hadi Omar and Western Fleet commander Vice Admiral Datuk Baharudin Wan Md Nor were also present.

The naming of the vessel pays tribute to the late Tunku Abdul Jalil, the fourth child of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, and Raja Zarith Sofiah, who was the first member of the Johor royal family in modern history to hold the title of Laksamana (Admiral).

It commemorates his courage, resilience and charitable legacy through the Tunku Laksamana Johor Cancer Foundation, as well as the enduring slogan “Fight Like Jalil”.

Her Majesty said the naming carried deep significance for the royal family and reflected a meaningful tribute to the late prince.

“To have this ship named after Jalil means a lot to our family… it is a tribute which we appreciate very much,” she said, adding that the title Laksamana also held great historical significance in the Malay Sultanates.

She expressed hope that the vessel would be blessed and that all personnel serving onboard would be kept safe.

The Tunku-class vessel, based on the Ada-class corvette design by Turkish defence firm Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik (STM), measures 99.56 metres in length and 14.42 metres in width, and is designed for multi-dimensional naval operations.

Its launch marks a key engineering milestone, with the ship now entering the setting-to-work (STW) phase involving the integration of combat and sensor systems.

The project also reflects growing Malaysia–Türkiye defence cooperation, including technology transfer in naval shipbuilding.

With the launch, Malaysia takes another step towards building a more modern and capable navy to meet increasingly complex maritime security challenges.