Pakistan Navy held a commissioning ceremony for the new “PNS TABUK” warship recently inducted into the navy. The ceremony was held at the Black Sea port on the coast of Constanta, Romania, yesterday.
PNS TABUK’s commissioning marks the two-vessel order’s completion with ‘Damen,’ signed by the Pakistan MoD in 2017.
The contract for two Corvettes for Pakistan Navy was signed between the Ministry of Defence Production Pakistan and M/s DAMEN, Romania. The first ship of the class, PNS YARMOOK, was commissioned earlier this year. In contrast, PNS TABUK has also joined Pakistan Navy Fleet, said a statement issued by the Director-General Public Relations (Navy) in Islamabad on Friday.
Damen signed an agreement with the Ministry of Defence Procurement, Pakistan, on June 30, 2017, to design and build two multipurpose OPVs (Offshore Patrol Vessel) for Pakistan Navy. The Dutch shipbuilder selected its shipyard in Galați, Romania, to build these vessels. According to Pakistan Navy officials, the purpose of these corvettes is to “act as force multipliers in enhancing navy’s capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and will offer more flexibility in the conduct of [the] Pakistan Navy’s initiative of independent Regional Maritime Security Patrols in the Indian Ocean Region.”
The new addition, PNS TABUK, is a highly versatile vessel with potential uses with various maritime operations and can also host a ‘multirole helicopter’ and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) simultaneously.
Furthermore, PNS TABUK possesses state of the art electronic warfare, anti-ship & anti-air weapons/ sensors along with modern self-protection and terminal defense systems.
While addressing the ceremony, the Commanding Officer of PNS TABUK stressed this project’s significance and emphasized the additional set of capabilities added to the Pakistan Navy sphere of operations to induce these potent platforms.
He also acknowledged the professional competence and shipbuilding acumen of DAMEN Shipyards and showed confidence in future cooperation in delivering cutting edge naval technologies to the Pakistan Navy.
The ceremony was attended by Chief Naval Overseer (Romania), Ship’s Crew, and Senior Management of DAMEN Shipyards, Gorinchem, and Galati.
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As of 2009, the Romanian shipbuilding industry ranked 10th globally in terms of gross tonnage production. Fundamental changes influenced the development of the Romanian shipyard in keeping with the terms of the outlet market.
In 1989, over 80% of the output was designed for the domestic market, while 85% of the export activities were oriented towards the CMEA countries. Currently, 70-80% of the output is meant for export towards the EU, China, South Africa, and Norway. Two foreign investors (Daewoo & Darumen) bought the main shipyards (Mangalia&Galati), and the privatization process is still at work in this industrial branch. South Korea’s GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity [PPP] basis for 2011 was $31,700, while in Romania, it was $12,300.
Naval fleets consist of very different ships, usually highly specialized, with stringent requirements, such as frigates, amphibious ships, submarines, or mine hunters.
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But the Korean yards are focused on commercial production. Romanian access to the Black Sea and over 1000 km of the natural border formed by the Danube River that crosses Romania’s territory led to shipbuilding development for over 160 years.
The long tradition of shipbuilding led to developing a higher education system to ensure highly skilled specialists, strong research, and design data banks. Both the “Dunarea de Jos” University and the ICEPRONAV Institute are located in Galati.
With an area of 55 hectares and having approximately 2,500 employees, Damen Shipyards Galati is one of the largest production units of the Dutch Damen Group, which operates 35 shipbuilding and repair yards worldwide. Since joining Damen Shipyards Group in 1999, the yard has developed into a highly efficient production shipyard with a significant output.
The yard’s shipbuilding expertise and closely-managed supply chain have been behind some of Damen’s most important deliveries to date, fully representing the group’s diverse product portfolio.
As of 1999, Damen Shipyards Galati has delivered more than 400 vessels to clients from all over the world (among which 29 naval vessels for 13 different countries, including NATO and EU countries). The company’s portfolio includes patrol ships, offshore vessels, ferries, dredgers and barges, super-yachts, naval vessels, and tugs.
GVS News Desk