Delivering The Baby

This was how she looked like when I got involved in the project. She was known as Hull NC538. The company had acquired her as its first baby of the planned fleet, and as the Operations guy, I had to oversee its growth.

She was launched on my birthday, and by some freak arrangement (my boss and all the other directors in the whole group had to be away that particular day), I was asked to launch her.

I had to do all the stuff normally reserved for the owner of a company; delivered a speech, congratulating the yard’s management and workers, and subsequently launch the vessel.

If you notice the white half-K on its side, I designed that so she could easily be recognised once at sea. When I went back to the office, the Group CEO asked me to look into a naming convention for the company’s fleet, asking me to throw in all prefixes and suffixes that I could think of. Initially, I named the vessels according to the thoroughbred of horses. I couldn’t resist that as I was born in the year of the Horse. The Group CEO thought some of the names were too mouthful for simple malays (read: did not learn English seriously in school); then I thought of naming the vessels after islands of the state of Terengganu, in respect of the present Agong.

So, she’s been named the MV “KPV Kapas“. The next vessel which again I will have to oversee its completion and testing, will be called the “KPV Gemia“; and the soon-to-be-constructed 110-meter length vessel will be called the “KPV Redang.”

The “KPV Kapas” was towed out of the Baram river on Thursday 8th October 2009, at 8pm. And I have been on board her ever since, watching her being tried and tested to her limits.

Tomorrow, Saturday, 17th October 2009, she will make her way to Bintulu for her final tests before making for Songkhla waters for her first job. I will finally make my way home 3 days later. I just want to thank my wife for her patience and understanding, and for managing our home while I was away.

I love you, Bunny.