KARACHI: Pakistan’s first 1,500-tonne maritime security ship, Kashmir, on Friday was commissioned in Guangzhou, China.
The 94-metre MPV, PMSS Kashmir displaces 1,550 tonnes of water and is equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, communication and navigational equipment, and it has a maximum speed of 26 knots and an endurance of 3,500 nautical miles, according to a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) handout.
The handout also said that the ship could undertake different kinds of missions including policing, anti-poaching, surveillance, patrolling and anti-smuggling.
Defence Secretary Lieutenant General (r) Zamirul Hassan Shah, who was also the chief guest of the commissioning ceremony, said, “PMSS Kashmir, as its name implies, is a symbol of our solidarity with our integral part Kashmir.”
“The people of Kashmir are engaged in a heroic struggle and continue to lay supreme sacrifices for their rights and this ship, being the largest one in the PMSA fleet, has therefore been named Kashmir to show our resolve towards the cause of Kashmir and solidarity with our great Kashmiri brothers and sisters,” he added.
