JOHOR BARU: The Royal Malaysian Navy has deployed assault craft and other assets to provide a "cordon sanitaire" around the sunken KD Pendekar wreck site.
This is to ensure that sensitive equipment and materials related to operational security are not compromised.
The 50-year-old fast attack ship sank yesterday after it struck an unknown underwater object, two nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Penyusop, in Kota Tinggi.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said standard operating procedures call for sensitive materials, including classified documents, encryption devices, and weapons, to be secured or destroyed if a vessel is under threat of being compromised or captured.
However, he told the New Straits Times that the crew could not execute this in time as KD Pendekar was taking in water at a high rate before it sank.
"The RMN has deployed a number of its assets to secure the wreck site. The area has been put under a 'cordon sanitaire', where a buffer zone or a secured perimeter has been established to control access to the sunken vessel," he said.
Khaled said "sensitive" equipment included communication devices, encryption codes, cryptographic devices, weapons and ammunition.
The wreck site will be off-limits until salvage operations are concluded, he added.
"When a naval vessel with sensitive materials on board sinks, salvage operations are set in motion, as per standard procedures."
The NST has learnt that navy divers and remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) have been deployed to recover or destroy critical equipment.