Islamabad, Keel Laying ceremony of second Off-shore Patrol Vessel (OPV) being constructed for Pakistan Navy held at DAMEN Shipyard Galati, Romania. His Excellency Ambassador of Pakistan to Romania Dr Zafar Iqbal graced the ceremony as Chief Guest.

Owning to the satisfactory performance of 1st Batch of OPVs (PNS YARMOOK & PNS TABUK) in Pakistan Navy; the construction of 2nd Batch of OPVs was in progress at DAMEN Shipyard Romania. The ship will be multi-purpose and highly adaptive platform, equipped with state-of-the-art weapons & sensors to fight all domains of maritime warfare.

While addressing the ceremony, the Chief Guest underscored the importance of OPVs by emphasizing that these platforms will act as force multipliers in enhancing PN capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and will offer flexibility in conduct of Pakistan Navy’s initiative of independent Regional Maritime Security Patrols in the Indian Ocean Region. He added that Pakistan Navy has been successfully playing its role in providing secure sea environment not only to Pakistan but also to the world seafarers. He lauded the professional shipbuilding competence of M/s DAMEN and appreciated the timely delivery of ships to Pakistan Navy.

The ceremony was attended by senior representatives of MoDP and Pakistan Navy besides officials of M/s DAMEN Netherlands and DAMEN Shipyard Galati, Romania.