Keel laying ceremony of 32 tons Bollard Pull (BP) Tug for Pakistan Navy, was held at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW). Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Projects) was the chief guest on the occasion.
The tug has a 34 meter overall length with displacement of 481 tons with a maximum speed of 12 knots. It is also fitted with a very robust arrangement for tugging operations of almost all sizes of ships and crafts.
While speaking on the occasion, the chief guest highly appreciated the achievement of this important milestone and said that construction of 32 tons BP tug was indeed a clear manifestation of PN vision to pursue self-reliance in ship construction. He acknowledged all out support of Ministry of Defence Production and strenuous efforts of Karachi Shipyard towards attaining this goal.
Vice-Admiral Arifullah Hussaini highlighted that Pakistan Navy was pursuing new inductions of platforms with focus on indegenisation and was continuously awarding contracts to KS&EW for construction of ships. This will not only ensure timely availability of required ships for PN but will also go a long way in consolidating the shipbuilding industry in Pakistan.
Earlier, Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah, MD KS&EW in his welcome address said that a similar vessel was delivered to PN in 2014 which was performing exceptionally good. He also gave a brief outlook of ongoing projects and said that presently KS&EW was undertaking 9 shipbuilding projects which include Fleet tanker for PN, MPVs for Pakistan Maritime Agency, Fast Attack Craft(Missile), Multi Purpose Barge for PN and Bridge Erection Boats for Pak Army. MD KS&EW also thanked Ministry of Defence Production (Government of Pakistan) and especially Pakistan Navy for reposing confidence in KS&EW.
The ceremony was attended by high ranking officials from GoP, Pakistan Navy, corporate sector and KS&EW.