MT Bunga Mas

MT Bunga Mas Lima (BM5) is a container freighter purchased by the Royal Malaysian Navy and converted into an auxiliary ship. Launched in Malaysia on 2008, BM5 was the second ship owned by the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) to be deployed to the Gulf of Aden following its launch on 8 August at the Malaysian Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd shipyard in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

MISC Bhd, in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Navy and the National Security Council converted the MV Bunga Mas Lima to escort and protect its ships sailing through the pirate-infested gulf off the coast of Somalia. This follows the 2008 hijacking of two MISC ships there. In a statement yesterday, MISC said the conversion was carried out by its heavy engineering arm Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd. The Bunga Mas Lima is the first Malaysian merchant ship to be converted into an auxiliary vessel for the navy.

It has a displacement of 9,000t and is propelled by a heavy fuel tank, cylinder oil tank, and a fresh water tank.The 132.8m-long ship was built by Malaysian Marine and heavy engineering and was launched in 1997. The auxiliary multi-purpose support ship was acquired in June 2009, and was converted by MISC to escort ships safely across the piracy stricken water passages.