The Malaysian vessels arrived at Cat Lai Port in the southern hub on Saturday morning to commence the operational visit as part of an agreement reached by bilateral naval task forces.

Representatives from Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of External Affairs, the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense, and local military commands were among members of the welcome team.

After a welcome ceremony, the naval forces participated in activities that highlighted the history of both navies.

A maneuvering exercise joined by young military personnel from both sides was done to improve communication and cooperation in future joint missions.

The military men also participated in a friendly game of volleyball, before sitting down together for a dinner hosted by the High Command of Vietnam’s Naval Region 2.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maneuvering exercise between KD LEKIU KL GAGAH  SAMUDERA and LY THAI TO during PASSEX <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/23NOV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#23NOV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RMN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RMN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VPN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VPN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mykamarul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mykamarul</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tldm_rasmi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tldm_rasmi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MPA_Barat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MPA_Barat</a> <a href="https://t.co/39T2ZM6O1I">pic.twitter.com/39T2ZM6O1I</a></p>&mdash; KD LEKIU Frigate 30 (@KdLekiuFrigate) <a href="https://twitter.com/KdLekiuFrigate/status/934438790516506626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

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KD LEKIU is a missile defense ship with an overall length of 106 meters and a breadth of 12 meters, while the KL GAGAH SAMUDERA measures 75.9 meters in length.

The vessels are manned by a combined crew of 323 officers, sailors and naval cadets headed by Rear Admiral Dato' Rusli bin Ramli, who is currently Commander of Malaysia’s Naval Education and Training Command.

This is the ninth visit of Malaysian naval vessels to Vietnam.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A great way to spend Saturday morning - with our friends from Vietnam’s armed forces to welcome the brave officers and crew of <a href="https://twitter.com/KdLekiuFrigate?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KdLekiuFrigate</a> and KL <a href="https://twitter.com/GAGAHSAMUDERA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GAGAHSAMUDERA</a> at Cat Lai port, Ho Chi Minh City. Both ships are here for official operational visit. - CG <a href="https://t.co/SJHladC1C1">pic.twitter.com/SJHladC1C1</a></p>&mdash; ConGen Malaysia HCMC (@MYCGHCMC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MYCGHCMC/status/934278251001679873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

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