‘Severe damage’: Pak vessel hobbles to harbour after collision with Indian warship

PNS Hunain of the Pakistan Navy has returned to harbour after severe damage

New Delhi: In another incident of friction, a Pakistan navy ship collided with an Indian warship when the latter was on a routine surveillance mission. The incident happened on Tuesday evening in the North Arabian Sea.“On the evening of Sept 15, a Pakistan Naval Ship closed a frontline Indian Naval warship on a routine surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea at high speed, manoeuvring in an unprofessional and unsafe manner. This led to a collision,” a source told TOI, adding, “No damage has been reported”.“The Pakistani naval vessel involved in the collision was PNS Hunain of the Pakistan Navy. It has returned to harbour after severe damage,” the source told TOI.“Even under extreme provocation, the Indian warship’s captain exercised extreme restraint by taking actions to prevent a severe accident from taking place, which could have caused serious loss of lives and damage,” the source said.PNS Hunain (F273) is the third ship of the Yarmook-class corvettes operated by the Pakistan Navy. It was built by the Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards at its Galai shipyard in Romania.New Delhi has summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires (CDA) after the incident. “The CDA was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs today and a strong protest was lodged with him over the unacceptable and unprofessional conduct of Pakistani naval units at sea that led to a collision with a unit of the

Indian Navy,” the MEA said.The MEA said the diplomat was advised to convey to the Pakistani authorities concerned the need for all military units to observe due care and respect the provisions of the relevant agreements between the two sides in order to prevent any repeat of such incidents. New Delhi stated the approach breached Article 10 of the April 1991 bilateral agreement on advance notice for military exercises, which mandates a minimum three-nautical-mile distance between the two navies’ units.This is not the first time a Pakistani naval vessel has collided with an Indian warship. On June 16, 2011, Pakistani naval vessel PNS Babur “brushed past” Indian frigate INS Godavari in the Gulf of Aden, triggering a diplomatic row. PNS Babur was escorting Egyptian-owned merchant vessel MV Suez, which had been freed after Somali pirates held it hostage for several months. A helicopter net of INS Godavari was damaged when PNS Babur moved closer to the Indian warship while coming from behind.