On 17 May 2019, Damen Shipyards launched the first of two Pakistan Navy (PN) 2,300-ton corvettes from its facilities in Galati, Romania.
According to an official press statement by the PN Director General Public Relations (DGPR), the first ship – previously termed an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) – has a displacement of 2,300 tons.
Slated to join the PN by end of 2019, it will serve as a multi-mission corvette. The second ship will join the PN fleet by mid-2020.
The PN ordered the Damen OPVs in June 2017, and Damen Shipyards cut the steel of the first ship in April 2018. When it signed for the ships, the PN stated that it will use the OPVs for “anti surface [and] anti-air operations, maritime security operations, day/night helicopter operations, combat search-and-rescue, and surveillance and intelligence gathering operations.”
Though the PN did not disclose all of the corvette’s specifications, it did reveal that the ship has a total displacement of 2,300 tons. This would place the PN’s ships in the vicinity of Damen’s OPV 2400, the Dutch shipbuilder’s second largest OPV design (behind the OPV 2600).
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