Reading Time: 4 minutes approx.
DAMEN Shipyard Officially Launches The Keel Laying And Steel Cutting Ceremony Of PAKISTAN NAVY’s Second Batch Of Heavily Armed And Highly Advanced OPV-2600 Vessels At Galati Shipyard Romania:
DAMEN Shipyards has officially launched the Keel Laying and Steel Cutting ceremony of PAKISTAN NAVY’s Heavily Armed and Highly Advanced OPV-2600 vessels at Galati Shipyard Romania on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, PAKISTAN NAVY Media Wing Head DGPR NAVY Rear Admiral Naeem Sarwar said in an Official Statement.
According to the details, Damen Shipyards has officially started the construction of a second batch of two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for the PAKISTAN NAVY. The commencement was marked by a keel-laying and steel-cutting ceremony for the first and second OPVs, respectively.
PAKISTAN NAVAL CHIEF (CNS) Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi graced the Keel Laying and Steel Cutting ceremony as the Chief at Galati Shipyard Romania.
The CHIEF OF THE NAVAL STAFF (CNS) Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi also performed the initial welding work on one of the PAKISTAN NAVY’s Vessel at Damen Shipyards Galati that was followed by the Steel Cutting ceremony for the Second OPV 2600.
Damen believes the vessels will provide the PAKISTAN NAVY with a highly effective search and rescue capability, and will allow it to play an important role in safeguarding international trade routes from piracy and other threats. The ships are equipped for extended range and performance and benefit from advanced communication systems.
PAKISTAN NAVY has placed another order for the construction of Two Cutting-edge and state of the art OPV Vessels from Damen Shipyards after having a positive experience for the existing two OPV’s made by the same company for PAKISTAN NAVY.
The initial order for construction of two OPVs was awarded to Damen by the ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN (IRP) Ministry of Defense Production following the completion of a transparent bidding process in which Damen’s design and construction proposal was found to be the most suited for Sacred Country PAKISTAN’s growing maritime needs.
Damen Shipyards delivered the existing 2 OPV back in February and November 2020, which led to the assigning of Second Order by PAKISTAN NAVY to Damen Shipyards for the construction of bigger and highly advanced OPV Vessels for PAKISTAN NAVY than the existing 2 OPV.
During his welcome address, the CHIEF OF THE NAVAL STAFF (CNS) Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi said “these ships will act as force multipliers in enhancing the PAKISTAN NAVY’s capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and will offer more flexibility for the Regional Maritime Security Patrols (RMSP) in the indian Ocean Region (iOR).”
On the occasion, the CNS Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi also highly appreciated the commitment and dedication of the work completed by the Damen Construction and Design teams.
The CNS Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi said that the induction of such Highly Advanced and Heavily Armed Surface Combatant Platform will act as a force multipliers in enhancing the Capacity and Capability of PAKISTAN NAVY for the RMSP in the indian ocean region (iOR).
He added that PAKISTAN NAVY has been playing its due role in providing secure sea environment, that is not only significant and important to PAKISTAN, but the International Community, as well.
The Steel Cutting and Keel Laying Ceremony was attended by the Senior and Top Level Officials from the PAKISTAN NAVY, the Romanian Navy and Officials from the Galati Shipyard Romania.
