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KSEW lays keel for 1,500-ton PMSA patrol vessel
Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) set the keel for a 1,500-ton maritime patrol vessel (MPV) for the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA).
The 95-metre MPV is one of two 1,500-ton ships being procured by the PMSA, which is tasked with sea-based policing and patrol duties in Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). These are being supported by four 600-ton MPVs, two of which were recently delivered to the PMSA.
The Pakistani government ordered the MPVs from China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSTC). Of the six ships, three are being built at KSEW (i.e. one 1,500-ton and two 600-ton MPVs).
Notes & Comments:
The 1,500-ton MPV appears to be a variant of the P18N offshore patrol vessel (OPV) built for Nigeria. As per KSEW, the MPV has a top speed of 26 knots. The vessel will also have a flight deck for a small-to-medium sized utility helicopter.
5 Comments
by OSD
Congratulations to Pakistan for its great achievements. Things are moving forward and on the right track. With regards to the Pakistan navy, I have seen that the navy has built up a strong anti-submarine and anti-surface capability, but the anti-air capability is quite weak. Even the Azmat class are loaded to the teeth with SSMs. We need to build up an anti- air capability to truly control our sea lanes.
by Steve
I agree especially since Su-30 have range and are being configured to carry one Brahmos. Combined with P8i it’s not a good combination for us. Both American and Russians have caused us a headache by being too liberal with arms sales to India.
by Mohammad Zeeshan Fahd
when did KSEW build small midget submarines? just saw it on their website, you (quwa) never did an article on this would you be kind enough to do a writeup for the same
by Sami Shahid
very sensible decision
by OSD
Actually I’m not too concerned about the recent arms sales to India. If you analyze it more closely, you will see that India has really mismanaged the procurement and now they have a humongous fleet which will be impossible to utilize with maximum efficiency. As an example, the Su-30s have a dismal maintenance record, the MIG-29s have parts falling off of them in flights, the Tejas has only just reached the prototype stage, they had to order the BAe Hawk because the HAL Sitara has not been completed, the pilot to cockpit ratio is so low that even with half the fleet in maintenance, they don’t have enough pilots to fly the planes, the Arjun Tank is so heavy it cannot travel to the battle field, the INSAS rifle is so bad that with anything more than a few rounds, it jams and spews oil into the eyes of the soldier, the Indian navy has such a horrendous record of accidents that it losses more ships yearly than what the Argentine navy lost in the Faalklands war and so the list goes on.
My point was that Its not that the Indians are getting too good. But we need the AA capability in any case and now that the INS is building up its carrier fleet, we will need some missiles to shoot them down.